Join the Kiwanis Club: Actively supporting kids in Washington County
#SpotlightStory
For nearly 60 years, the Kiwanis Club of Cedar Hills has been actively supporting kids in Washington County as well as around the world.
The service club was formed in 1967 bringing together Kiwanians from various walks of life in a goal of service, creating new friendships and broader community involvement. As part of an international organization with 550,000 members and projects in 80 countries, the group is dedicated to “improving the world one child and one community at a time.”
Ranking high among the Cedar Hills club’s service projects is financial support of the Kiwanis Doernbecher Children’s Cancer Program which supports pediatric oncology care and several research fellows at Doernbecher Hospital as well as the Mount Hood Kiwanis Camp for children and adults with disabilities. Kiwanis members also participate in regular work parties needed to ready the camp for summer activities.
The club sponsors a Key Club for high school students in six Beaverton high schools – Aloha, Beaverton, Mountainside, Westview, Sunset and Southridge — providing opportunity for youth to serve the community and learn leadership skills. Over the years, thousands of kids have been touched by this program and during the current academic year, there were 485 Key Club members in the six schools. In addition to providing advisory assistance, KCCH contributed approximately $6000 to aid these young leaders in attending regional conferences as well as provide a scholarship award to a Key Club member.
Other local community service has included ringing bells for the Salvation Army, sorting food for the Oregon Food Bank, gathering and distributing Christmas food and toy boxes for low-income families, constructing a soccer ball kick wall in a local park, contributing to Imagine Possibilities in the area and participating in a community event for home maintenance for those in need. In addition, members currently deliver Meals on Wheels on a weekly basis.
Internationally, Kiwanis contributes as to orphanages and schools in Mexica and Nepal as well as to SIGN Fracture Care which provides sustainable orthopedic capacity in developing countries by educating local surgeons and manufacturing and donating the instruments and implants needed to treat fractures.
For more information about the Kiwanis Club of Cedar Hills or to join in the club’s community service, go to www.cedarhillskiwanis.org or contact dolores117@frontier.com.
