YOUTH SERVICES COMMITTEE

In our “Most Improved Sophomore" program we honor one student from each of nine public and  private high schools. To honor their academic improvement, the students and their parents join us for a special luncheon where they receive a check, a nice award plaque, and our praise.

Our club has a special relationship with the Kid Street Learning Center. We often respond to their special needs and occasionally participate in joint activities. We purchased and assembled a green house for the Center and have annual Shopping Sprees. At a back-to-school Shopping Spree, a dozen (or so) Kiwanians and Kid Street Charter School students each take a shopping cart,  a parent-provided shopping list and a budget into the aisles of K-Mart. It's always a fun time, with short-term bonding that is hard to break.

READING IS FUNDAMENTAL (RIF.org)

Our "Reading is Fundamental" program provides books to students at two elementary schools during each year. Club members visit the school, distribute the books and sit with the kids to read, or listen to young readers as encouragement. For more information on this activity click here.

In coordination with the Rotary Clubs, we provide high caliber youth dictionaries to third grade students at the same two schools.

COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE

We provide financial support to the Sonoma County Family YMCA. Not only are we proud to assist with the Y's annual operations, but we made a substantial pledge to the capital campaign for the recently completed expansion.

We provide financial support to the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra. As is often the case, members of our club are closely involved with the Symphony programs and we take special pleasure in making their efforts most effective. In recent years the club made a substantial contribution to the capital campaign for the Green Music Center at SSU.

Big K Land at Howarth Park was opened in 1967 through the cooperative efforts of the Kiwanis Clubs of Santa Rosa and the Recreation and Parks Department. In 1997, ground was broken for the Land of Imagination Playground within Big K Land. The plan involved a series of playground segments, each to be opened for use in when finished. In 1998, the four Santa Rosa Kiwanis Clubs, again in cooperation with the Recreation and Parks department, constructed the Old West Town segment of the playground. Old West Town was opened in October 1998. The last segment of the Land of Imagination Playground was completed in November 2004. Our club played a lead role during the planning and the construction of Old West Town.