The membership that makes up the Kiwanas Club of Kanata-Stittsville (KCKS) is relatively small with only 11 members, but the local community work this committed group has achieved since receiving their Charter on December 18, 2017 has been incredible.
(Glynn Kneebone, centre, President of the Kiwanis Club of Kanata-Stittsville speaks with members at the January 23, 2020 meeting held at The Wellings in Stittsville. Photo: Stittsville Central)
The KCKS forms part of the Kiwanis International Eastern Canada and Caribbean district. Being a non-profit organization, the club is comprised of a group of passionate Stittsville and Kanata volunteers who have dedicated themselves to the well-being of children and youth in the Stittsville and Kanata communities. Internationally, Kiwanis are known for their work on combatting Iodine Deficiency, and Maternal Neo-Natal Tetanus with UNICEF.
Their community commitment in such a short time span, has earned the Kiwanis of Kanata-Stittsville recognition for their earnest work. The District Lieutenant-Governor of Kiwanis, Harley Bloom, presented the Club with the Distinguished Club Award for the years 2017-18. When making the presentation, Harley commended the Club for all they have done and added, “Kiwanis gives the opportunity to do things you can’t do alone”.
Since the Club’s inception they have fundraised tirelessly and donated in the same vein. They have provided — $1,200 to the Ottawa Food Bank for the Dunrobin disaster; $500 to Crossroads Mental Health for Children providing an opportunity for two Stittsville children to attend summer camp; $750 to the Bahamas to assist with damages from Hurricane Dorian; $1,500 to the Ottawa-West Resource Centre for use at their youth drop-in centre; and provided a big kick-start donation to the Kanata Lotus Centre for Special Music Education (the Centre provides an opportunity for children with specials needs to grow — 75% of the students are on the autism spectrum) to assist with renovations to the Centre in Kanata’s Beaverbrook Mall.
In January KCKS announced the Club wanted to help the youth of Stittsville with a place that they could feel safe and have fun. With this project in mind, they recently had a meeting with Councillor Glen Gower and staff from the West-Ottawa Resource Centre (WORC) to start their vision of finding a dedicated building with a link to the WORC that could accomodate a local youth centre. Both Councillor Gower and the WORC are in agreement with this project.
Looking to the future and the betterment of children’s lives, they are in talks with Staples to begin a school supplies program locally. People could donate throughout the year. Also, used laptops and tablets dropped off at Staples, could be donated back to the Kiwanis and they could distribute them to kids so they would have proper access to a computer.
With a team of five members they organized the 2019 K4K Talent Showcase that took place at the Stittsville United Pentecostal Church and is one of their significant fundraisers. The Kiwanis members make it clear that this is not considered a contest, but an opportunity for young performers to share their talent. In 2019, the Showcase saw 18 acts with 30 performers entertain an audience of 300 who each paid to see the show. A total of $4,000 was netted. You can look forward to this event taking place again in 2020 on April 24th.
A Trivia Night fundraiser is planned for March 28th at the Glen Scottish Restaurant. This event will held to offset some of the costs associated with the upcoming K4K Talent Showcase.
Glynn Kneebone, President of the Kanata-Stittsville Kiwanis Club commented, “we are generous with our time; creative with our ideas; passionate about making a difference; and we have fun along the way”. “When you give a child the chance to learn, experience, dream, grow, succeed and thrive, great things can happen” he added.
If you are interested in joining the Kiwanas Club of Kanata-Stittsville or assisting in their youth efforts, visit their website at https://www.kanata-stittsvillekiwanis.org to find out more.