Club grows membership bucking national trend

By TRACY MCCARTY/Correspondent

Outside of work and school, days have become packed full of online time, Facebook, Twitter and even addicting television series. However, civic clubs still believe they provide a solid alternative, a social network that allows members to serve the community and fellowship. In an age when many such groups are finding it hard to attract new members for weekly or monthly meetings and activities, Marion’s Kiwanis Club is breaking that national trend.
Civic clubs, such as the Kiwanis Club, are not only social networks, but they provide much-needed leadership and support to the community. The Kiwanis Club members believe the organization can be described in their one-line motto, “Building leaders to help children around the world.” The Marion chapter of Kiwanis has been around since the 1920s and has touched the lives of many in Smyth County. The current club has 46 members and has increased its membership by 18 percent in the past year alone. According to Marvin Leslie, “The significance is that throughout the nation it is more and more difficult for civic organizations to attract membership. The Kiwanis invitation would appeal to individuals who enjoy being among other individuals who have a passion for protecting and helping children and youth.”
Leslie, who was the Membership Growth chairman during the past year and who is the president-elect for the next term, believes that the club has attracted members because of its strong attention to civic work in Smyth County. He described how all of the club’s funds are used to support projects for children and youth either directly or indirectly. “Directly [our funds] help with buying prescriptions for very young children, scholarship funds for high school graduates, scholarships for kids in the Department of Social Services for summer camps, or for children in certain grades of public school to take a historical field trip… We have also supported the Fuller Center for Housing; these are families that have children and so they benefit indirectly.”
Jeff Richardson, who has been a member for six years and who taught school in Smyth County for more than 25 years, said, “I know that I taught some of the recipients of our scholarships and it is wonderful to see that we were able to assist those students in their success. A young lady that was the recipient four years ago just graduated from East Tennessee State University in physical therapy. Last year’s recipient is at Virginia Tech majoring in engineering. Just making a difference in the lives of kids is what it is all about and I think we are fortunate to have people in our community that are passionate. They care about kids and they see the work that is done and they want to be a part of it.”
Tom Voglewede, a 20-year Kiwanian, described other community activities of the club. “We go into the schools and read to them and give out books, we have a creative writing contest, we teach them about safety, and we do a lot with the school systems.” He added that when he chose the club, “‘Socialability’ was a nice thing, but the reason I am in Kiwanis is to help the kids in the community.”
One particular outreach that Voglewede, along with his fellow Kiwanians, is actively involved in is the club’s Snack-in-a-Pack Program. “I went and talked to some of the teachers with the Head Start Program, and they indicated that a lot of kids come into their program on Monday morning acting lethargic and are asking when the next snack is. They do a really good job of getting the kids good nutrition during the week in all the school systems in Smyth County. But on the weekends, many [children] may be getting non-nutritious foods.”
The Kiwanis Club had been looking for a new project and three years ago, with the needs of these students in mind, they developed the Snack-in-a-Pack Program. “Going through a nutritionist to get this started and doing it right was very important to us. All of our snacks are low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar and all are approved through the school system. Each Friday, a youngster gets a backpack full of nutritious snacks. We are not trying to replace the meal on the weekends, but if a youngster wants a snack between meals, he would go to the backpack and select something. For example, this week we are giving out low-fat pudding, cheese and crackers, a pack of oatmeal, juice or milk. We also give them a water bottle that they can keep refilling. We try to put the emphasis on parents giving them water instead of sugary drinks and pop. On Thursday the backpacks are filled by volunteers at the Senior Citizens Center and then a Kiwanian will pick them up and take them to the Head Start center.”
The volunteers at the Senior Citizens Center also allowed the Kiwanis Club to use a store room for the bulk foods they purchase through the Abingdon Food Bank and through local grocery stores. Voglewede added, “Each week we also put in the backpack a slip of paper about good nutrition. We are trying to not only get the youngsters into good habits of eating, but we are trying to educate the family as to what good nutrition is. Once a month I put in a survey form that the parents can fill out and give us feedback on the program. If the kids don’t like a certain food item and just aren’t going to eat it, then we will eliminate it from the backpacks so we don’t waste that food.”
The Snack-in-a-Pack Program expanded to include Atkins Elementary Preschool Program and currently serves nearly 100 students each week. “The backpacks are numbered, so we don’t use names. Confidentiality is important,” said Voglewede. The program is open to all families, but parents are required to sign a form and attend a meeting where a member of Kiwanis explains the program. They offer several sign-ups each year and hope that the program will continue to grow and educate these families. “My hope is to expand it to the Marion Primary preschool. We are limited on resources and we don’t want to extend so much that we can’t support it. This has become the biggest use of our funds.”
This program, along with the many other civic projects the Kiwanis Club has undertaken, has gained the interest of new members. Leslie helped to promote a special membership campaign last year that started in the summer and culminated in August. “The way we approached it was based on a model furnished by Kiwanis International. We asked members to recommend individuals who would be good prospects for the club and we had about 50 recommendations from our membership.” After the board of directors reviewed the list, invitations were extended to these individuals to attend an end-of-season social at Holston Hills Country Club. They were invited to come and enjoy a meal and learn more about Kiwanis.
Current President Bob Whisman and others credited Leslie with the success of the club’s growth, but Leslie said, “I give our members credit for the success of this growth campaign because they are the ones who made the recommendations; they made the contacts and those are the kinds of things that are critical to getting new members in.” He also added that they will use this model for growth again in the upcoming year to further boost their membership. “There are three areas that I would like to see us make an extra effort to achieve: more females, more minorities and more, shall we say, younger members. Our average age is probably closer to the senior grouping,” added Leslie. The Kiwanis Club does sponsor a Key Club at Marion Senior High School. “This provides an opportunity for the very young to become familiar with Kiwanis and its community service. As these students go through their career preparations and enter the world of work it is a good resource for recruiting younger members.”
Richardson remembers firsthand the impact Kiwanis has on young people. “In 1961, I was on a little league team at the age of five and I had my gold Kiwanis hat and my big blue ‘K’ and that was available to all the children on that ball club for one reason. And that is that the Kiwanis Club supported youth league baseball that year. For me personally, Kiwanis is just my fit. It was a part of my own that I remembered as a child and I can look at those photographs and see those people who are still working in this community to this day and are still contributing. We are influencing children who may be 10 to 15 years of age today. In 50 years, in 2059, those kids will be 60 and they will be influencing the children of the 22nd century. It’s a matter of paying it forward and making a difference in kids’ lives.”
Richardson was quick to add that community service is the key, not the particular club. “I think that the Kiwanis Club is a part of the fabric of our community. Our club, along with other civic organizations, binds together to meet the needs of our community as a whole. It’s not a matter of Kiwanis versus other clubs, it’s that every club has its outreach. It may be a person’s individual schedule. It’s just like a tapestry; we are just one of those threads and when you put all those threads together it makes something really beautiful for the community.”
Anyone who would like to make a donation to the Kiwanis Club of Marion may mail it to P.O. Box 501, Marion, VA 24354.