Kiwanis
Kiwanis International is a
service organization whose mission is "Serving the Children of the World". The organization was founded on
January 21,
1915 in
Detroit, Michigan by Joseph C. Prance (a tailor) and Allen S. Browne (a professional event organizer). The two came up with the idea in August 1914, and in 1915 founded Kiwanis Club of Detroit Number One.
Today, Kiwanis is headquartered in
Indianapolis, Indiana. Its original purpose was to exchange business between members and to serve the poor. The debate as to whether or not to remain a networking organization or a service organization was resolved in
1919 when Kiwanis adopted a service focused mission. The organization was for men only until
1987 and since then female membership has grown to be 22% of total members.
The third-largest service organization in the world, membership in Kiwanis International in
2005 stood at 275,000. The average age of members is 57 years old. Average size of the 13,000 clubs is 34 members. The organization has chapters in 93 countries.
Kiwanis International also founded and supports
Key Club. Started in
Sacramento, California in
1925, it is the oldest and largest service program for high school students in the world.
The collegiate version of Kiwanis is
Circle K. The first official Circle K club was chartered in September,
1947 at the campus of
Carthage College (then in Illinois).
Key Club and
Circle K are part of Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs. While both of them are considered organizations, the
K-Kids (elementary school),
Builder's Club (middle school) and
Aktion Club (for people with disabilities) are considered sponsored programs. The difference is that Key Club and Circle K, just like Kiwanis, elect their own Club, District and International officers each year to lead the organization.
The Objects of Kiwanis are:
* To give primacy to the human and spiritual, rather than the material values of life.
* To encourage the daily living of the
Golden Rule in all human relationships.
* To promote the adoption and the application of higher social, business, and professional standards.
* To develop, by precept and example, a more intelligent, aggressive, and serviceable citizenship.
* To provide, through Kiwanis clubs, a practical means to form enduring friendships, to render altruistic service, and to build better communities.
* To cooperate in creating and maintaining that sound public opinion and high idealism which make possible the increase of righteousness, justice, patriotism, and goodwill.(Source: http://www.kiwanis.org/membership/ )(Source: Staff at Kiwanis International Headquarters)
*
List of civic, fraternal, service, and professional organizations*
Kiwanis International* [
1]
The Kiwanis Music Festival is an unrelated annual event held in Guelph, Ontario (Canada).
