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WEEKLY FAX OF LIFE INSPIRATIONAL E-MAIL – This week’s Fax from Scott’s
Valley Kiwanis is actually a double header: the first is titled
”How to Win While Losing – and Stay Young While Growing Old”; the second is titled “The
Best Poem in the World.” Click on the blue titles for links to them on the
rosemeadkiwanis.org website
Special Report –
An Aktion Club in Action
Challenged adults get
in on Aktion Club
Club gives back to
community
Reprinted
courtesy of Inland
Valley Daily Bulletin
Suzanne Sproul, Staff Writer
ONTARIO. 4/17/2010 - Two years ago,
local Kiwanians welcomed more enthusiastic
members into their organization. It's been a win/win situation for
everyone.
The
individuals are people associated with PVW, formerly known as the Pomona
Valley Workshop. The group is called Aktion Club
and the name couldn't be more fitting - members enjoy being in on the
action and helping their neighbors.
These
members quickly and wholeheartedly embrace whatever service projects come
their way, initiating many of them themselves.
And the
group upholds one of the strongest Kiwanis characteristics - caring for the
community.
Kiwanian
Sharron Varga, a former [Kiwanis] Division 15
governor, thinks of this group as her baby. She's been behind it since the
beginning and can't say enough good things about its members.
"When
it started there was about 22, and today there's about 55 people who
regularly come to meetings and participate and they do so with open
hearts," Varga said. "I'm so impressed
with this group."
Aktion Club is one of the newest of the Kiwanis
International-sponsored organizations and programs. It involves adults who
live with a disability. The idea is to provide them with a chance to get
involved in their communities and demonstrate their leadership skills.
The Aktion Club at PVW does that and more.
"The
members have been actively involved since the group started. They provide a
lot of service to the community. They collect soda can tabs as a
fundraiser, they help provide meals for families at the Ronald McDonald
House at Loma Linda University Medical Center, they make trauma dolls for
children who just need something to hold on to when they're scared, and
they collect food and clothing for the homeless," said Karen Jones,
PVW executive director.
The
first year, the club worked to raise money to send two people to the
Kiwanis convention, an organization tradition. Last year, the number rose
to 22.
"What's
so great about this is that this is their club. They get to pick their own
projects, do their own fundraising and elect their own officers. They own
it," Jones said.
"And
that's so important because these individuals usually have so little in
their lives that they can call their own. This is their club and they're so
proud. We're proud of them."
The
group meets twice a month at 7 a.m. at the PVW headquarters in Ontario. Members network and form friendships while they serve
their community.
At a
recent meeting, representatives of the Ontario Parkway Kiwanis attended to
promote the Kiwanis One Day event of community service.
They
asked for help from the Aktion Club and almost
every hand in the room went up. Many said they were happy to help clean and
paint at the local Kids Come First Community Clinic in Ontario because that's what they do.
"The
local Kiwanians, Sharron in particular, have been
so supportive. We've seen the personal growth and everyone who is involved
in this club has had their leadership skills sharpened. The partnership
does a great service to the community," Jones said.
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