The Innisfail Kiwanis Club will soon be calling Innisfail and district home.
The inaugural meeting will be held at the Youth Programming Facility at 4136 - 49 Ave. on Sept. 20 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and will be open to members who have signed up, or want to join Kiwanis.
Kiwanis International is a worldwide service organization focused on children, but is involved in projects for all age groups.
Roy Bird, western Canadian district governor and a 33-year Kiwanis member, will be speaking, said Diane Mineault, former president of the Camrose Kiwanis.
“He is an enthusiastic volunteer and excellent ambassador for Kiwanis International who spent time in Los Angeles gluing flowers on the Kiwanis float for the Rose Bowl Parade this last year.”
Bird commented that Kiwanis International is dedicated to “improve the world one child and one community at a time,” in addition to providing opportunities for leadership and networking.
Youth membership in Kiwanis is open to students in either the Builders Club (junior high) or Key Club (senior high) and Circle K (university/college) with local clubs being responsible for offering opportunities in local schools such as the Innisfail Jr./Sr. High School.
“The initial meeting will be an opportunity to make Kiwanis the right service group for Innisfail,” said Dirk Bannister, district secretary-treasurer. “We believe the area is well served by existing service organizations but that there is room for more community-minded groups like ours. Kiwanis has been in existence for 99 years and provides top-rated community service in 80 countries around the world.”
Other service clubs in Innisfail include the Masonic Lodge, the Innisfail Kinsmen, Rotary Club of Innisfail and the Innisfail Lions Club.
“We believe that Kiwanis will be a tremendous asset to the Innisfail community and look forward to working with the community,” said Bird. “The western Canadian district is looking forward to working alongside the charter members.”
Tim Howard, executive director of Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Innisfail, is anxiously awaiting the Kiwanis.
“This is a very positive step forward,” said Howard. “We do know there is a strong service club mosaic in Innisfail but Kiwanis is very specifically youth oriented just like our group. Our future expansion plans are aggressive and we will require strong support from the community and local service groups.”
He noted that Innisfail has the foundation to serve youth, and Kiwanis will help put the building blocks into place.
The charter night celebration will be held at a later date to be announced.
For more information on Kiwanis International, interested individuals can call the office at 780-608-1417 or email [email protected] or a local contact at [email protected]. Online, citizens can go to the Kiwanis website at www.kiwanis.org
