‘Busy’ first year for Kiwanis Club

Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 7, 2024

Focused on work to benefit local children

President John F. Kennedy said, “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”

One local civic organization embraces this mindset and is raising money to invest in Lawrence County children — work that is the club’s main focus during a “busy” first year.

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The Kiwanis Club of Greater Ironton raised money for its signature project — the Open Door School playground. Sean Davis, Kiwanis Club president, said members have “raised quite a bit of money.”

“We’re getting ready to finish up (this) project for the year, which will be for the Open Door School,” he said.

The Club will present the school with a check later this month. 

Davis said the Club meets at 5:30 p.m. every week on Tuesdays at Ohio University Southern in the Collins Center. He said core members have “really gotten involved” in the organization’s efforts to benefit children. 

“We’ve been really successful with some of our fundraisers,” Davis said. “We just had our drawing for two tickets to the Ohio State-Michigan football game. That was one of our big fundraisers.”

The organization, according to Davis, was active in Wizardfest. 

“That was a big fundraiser for us, too,” he said. “We worked with the food bank recently. We’re wanting to grow our membership. We’ve been focused on solidifying our membership and holding some good fundraising activities.”

Another event in which the Kiwanis Club engaged this year is “Christmas on Vernon,” raffling off a holiday basket.

In an additional effort to encourage local people to become new members through a membership drive is the Mingle Bells event scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at Mailroom Studios, 101 N. Fourth St. in Ironton.

“Meet, eat and be merry,” Davis said. 

It is an event for members of the community to gather and learn how Kiwanians help children. Davis invites everyone to attend, bring a friend, meet new people and discover the Kiwanis Club’s impact in the local community. 

The Club’s current “big push” is to increase its membership out past Ironton. Another project is to set up a Key Club student organization at Ironton High School, and “eventually” at each Lawrence County high school. 

“It’s to get more youth involved,” Davis said.

The organization also partnered on a fundraising effort for Big Brothers-Big Sisters of the Tri-State. A couple of Ironton Kiwanis Club members even worked with the Breakfast Club of the Ashland Kiwanis on meal packing. 

“That’s one of our goals—to team up with other civic organizations such as the Lion’s Club, Rotary and even reach across the river to be more impactful,” Davis said.