Metropolis Kiwanis Club issued the following announcement on Jan. 18.
Kiwanis clubs around the world continue to help children in need — from providing necessities that many of us take for granted to offering opportunities that can change lives.
Thanks to members’ generous gifts, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund has awarded grants to clubs around the world, helping them tackle challenges facing kids in their communities.
Supporting foster kids
In the Italy-San Marino District, a grant from the Children’s Fund will help the Kiwanis Club of Pescara offer opportunities children in foster care. The club take children on excursions in the seaside city, provide scholarships and support their mental health and well-being.
Warm winter coats
Like many clubs, the Farmington Rio del Sol Kiwanis Club in New Mexico had to cancel its 2020 fundraisers. But a grant from the Children’s Fund will allow the club to continue buying winter coats for 300 students in San Juan County and the Navajo Reservation. In addition to the coats, the kids and their siblings — many of whom have only worn hand-me-downs — are invited to go with club members to Target to pick out new clothes.
Free books for preschoolers
The Tallahassee, Florida, Kiwanis Club will expand its preschool reading program, thanks to a grant from the Children’s Fund. Working with the Ferst Reading Program, the club will provide a free book and a monthly parenting engagement newsletter to every student at three Head Start schools. Club members adopted the program because 61% of low-income homes do not have any age-appropriate children’s books — even though 85% of a child’s brain and language development occurs by age 3. Members also say that the program has reinvigorated the club and attracted new members.
New school clothes
A program that has provided free clothing to elementary students for 20 years will continue because of a grant from the Children’s Fund. The Kiwanis Club of Matthews, North Carolina, works with counselors at Terrific Kids partner schools to identify about 100 students who could benefit from new clothes and shoes. The club arranges shopping nights for the kids — as well as their siblings — to shop with their parents at a local Walmart.
Interested in applying for a club grant? Learn more here.
Go to kiwanischildrensfund.org/give to support Kiwanis International’s mission of serving the children of the world.
Original source can be found here.
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