A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON ON KIWANIS

 

Kiwanis clubs, located in 80 nations, help their communities in countless ways. Each community’s needs are different—so each Kiwanis club is different. By working together, members achieve what one person cannot accomplish alone. When you give a child the chance to learn, experience, dream, grow, succeed and thrive, great things happen.

 

The first official meeting of the Kiwanis took place on January 21, 1915, in Detroit, Mi. At the time, the organization called itself the Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order Brothers. The club was formed as a way for business people to improve their communities. In 1920, Kiwanis adopted the slogan, “We build.” In 1922, Kiwanis convened across the border in Toronto. By that time, the organization had grown to over 802 clubs with over 68,000 members.

Today, Kiwanis is a global community of clubs. They are now primarily known for helping children. Their current motto is “Serving the Children of the World.” There are over 555,000 members in 80 countries. Kiwanis is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, and hosts nearly 150,000 service projects a year.

 

Service footprint: Service is at the heart of every Kiwanis club, no matter where in the world it’s located. Members stage nearly 150,000 service projects and raise nearly US $100 million every year for communities, families and projects.

 

A family of servant leaders: Kiwanis clubs focus on changing the world by serving children, one child and one community at a time. To do this, many clubs also sponsor a Kiwanis family club—K-Kids for primary school children; Builders Clubs for adolescents; Key Clubs for teens; CKI clubs for university students and Aktion Clubs for adults living with disabilities—to reach more people and have a greater service impact on their communities.

 

Kiwanis International was founded in 1915 by a group of businessmen in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The organization was originally called the Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order of Brothers, but changed its name to Kiwanis a year later.

 

What does the Kiwanis mean?

Kiwanis, taken from a Native American phrase "Nunc Kee-wanis," means "we trade" or "we share our talents" [source: Kiwanis International]. Members include mayors, councilmen and local businesspeople who meet every week to discuss community affairs, business and politics as well as to raise money for its projects.

According to the Kiwanis magazine, sponsors of the organization searching for a name in 1915 found an Otchipew Indian expression, “Nun-Kee-wan-is,” which meant variously, “We gather together for self-expression” or “We Trade”.

Webster’s New World Dictionary says the word simply means in Indian language “to make oneself known.”

The International founders decided simply upon “Kiwanis” and adopted Roe Fulkerson’s suggestion in  1920 of “We Build” as the official motto.

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                      That motto now is “Serving the Children of the World!”