CONNEAUT – Years ago, the Conneaut Kiwanis Club sponsored a group of Ashtabula residents as they looked to start their own chapter.
The Ashtabula Kiwanis Club will now return that favor as Kiwanis looks to restart the Conneaut chapter.
“There was a club in Conneaut and it dissolved about 20 years ago because its members aged out and new members never joined,” Rick Fox, Kiwanis district membership chair for Ohio, said. “Interestingly enough, Conneaut sponsored Ashtabula when it joined Kiwanis. Ashtabula is looking to return that favor and sponsor Conneaut trying to come back.”
Fox and his team will be in Conneaut to host an informational meeting while recruiting members for a Kiwanis chapter in Conneaut.
“We’re hoping to get prospective members to attend a meeting to give them a brief presentation what the Kiwanis is and what our mission is,” Fox said.
A meeting will be held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 876 Grove St., on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 6 p.m. and a campaign to recruit prospective members is being hosted on the Conneaut Kiwanis Facebook page where membership applications can be filled out. Fox and his team will be in Conneaut on Tuesday, Jan 20, and Wednesday, Jan. 21, conducting interviews of membership applicants leading up to the meeting on Thursday.
Kiwanis is a global service organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.
The Kiwanis motto “Serving the children of the world.” The organization’s vision is “Kiwanis will be a positive influence in communities worldwide — so that one day, all children will wake up in communities that believe in them, nurture them and provide the support they need to thrive.”
Kiwanis’ goal is to revive the Conneaut club.
“It’s always nice to revive a club,” Fox said. “We’re finding that a lot of places who had clubs years ago want to bring them back.”
Fox’s goal is to have a viable club by the end of the meeting on Jan. 22.
“We’re really looking to get this done by Thursday, Jan. 22,” Fox said. “It really is all about the children. I knew it’s a really neat organization. I’ve been involved 26 years and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It’s been really enjoyable.”
To be a viable club, 15 members have to be signed up with dues.
“Kiwanis is looking for people interested in dedicating to the service of the children of the community and the community as a whole,” Fox said. “We’re a service organization. We do fundraisers and events to raise money and that money goes back out into the community to serve the community and the children of the community.”
