After 15 years, the Kiwanis Club service organization is returning to the Blackfoot area. They join active clubs in Shelley, Idaho Falls, Rexburg and Pocatello in serving the region’s communities through the youth. Their goal is to “create leaders that make a difference,” according to Blackfoot’s Kiwanis President Torry Hutchison.
Each Kiwanis Club forms Key Clubs for local high school youth to become involved with community service. In the process they teach the youth leadership skills, mentor their club meetings, listen as they make decisions and support them with implementing service projects. The youth elect their own club leaders — president, secretary, treasurer — conduct all their own meetings and plan how best to serve their community.
Some examples of how Key Clubs have served in the region are by painting houses, making blankets for the Village and reading to HeadStart children. Besides service and mentoring leadership, the Kiwanis feel Key Clubs are a place for the youth to be heard and to become involved with their world in a positive way.
Key Clubs are organized in high schools, and both Blackfoot High School and Snake River High School are interested in forming clubs. There are also Kiwanis programs for the other grades. For example, there is a middle school program called a Builders Club and Wapello Elementary School Principal Matt Noble, who is also a Kiwanian, is interested in a K-Kids program in his school.
The Kiwanis are a global service organization that is now headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. They were founded by Allen S. Browne in Detroit on January 21, 1915. They chose the name “Kiwanis” believing it was an Ojibwe word for “We Build,” which became their motto. More recently, in 2005, they chose a new motto, “Serving the Children of the World.”
Closer to home, the Utah-Idaho Kiwanis District has 50 clubs overseen by Governor Debra Irish and eight Lieutenant Governors. F.C. “Chuck” Humphrey of Pocatello is the Lieutenant Governor over the 5 local clubs along I-15.
Reviving the Blackfoot Kiwanis Club is quite a process. First they needed to have 15 members from which they organized a board and elected a president, secretary, treasurer and president-elect. Torry Hutchison, an Employment Specialist at Dawn Enterprises, accepted the position of President. She remembers attending the Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunts when she was a child and wants to see the Key Clubs come back to Blackfoot.
The next step to qualify as a recognized club is to hold a fundraiser event within 90 days of being organized. That required event is Friday Dec. 13 at Mountain View Middle School, located at 645 W. 50 S., from 6-8 p.m. It’s a Cocoa with Kiwanis evening that includes a potato bar, hot chocolate and cookies, photos with Santa and a silent auction. The cost is $5/person or $20 per family. All proceeds will be used to form Key Clubs.
Also attending Friday night’s event will be District Governor Irish, past District Governor Steve Smith and Lieutenant Humphrey. They will be on hand to present to the Club their official charter.
Once they are officially recognized, the next step is to organize the Key Clubs at Blackfoot and Snake River high schools. It costs $600 a school to form a club. They hope to start the clubs in the spring.
The Kiwanians hold their meetings twice a month — on the first Wednesday from 12-1 p.m. at the Wake-Up Call located at 790 W. Bridge St. and on the third Thursday night from 6-7 p.m. at Dawn Enterprises located at 280 Cedar St. It doesn’t cost to attend and see if you want to become a member or be on their board. It costs $180/year to be a member. Their board meetings are on the fourth Tuesday at 12-1 p.m. at Wake-Up Call.
Want to help shape the future through the youth and also serve the children and families of Blackfoot? The Kiwanis Club may be the answer — it certainly is a welcome addition to Blackfoot.
