Kiwanis club hoping to find a home in Strathmore

Times Reporter  

 

The Kiwanis Club is once again trying to make an appearance in Strathmore. Last year Cory Johnson and his wife Sandi found out they had friends interested in joining the Kiwanis Club, an organization that is near and dear to Johnson. 

The response was tremendous, but the project had to be put on hold when Johnson became the Governor-Elect of the Kiwanis Club of Calgary. Now that things are slowing down, and with more help being proposed to start the club, Johnson is ready to refocus. 

“Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one community and one child at time. There is a need in this town whether it’s sending kid to a summer camp… or getting them bikes that they need or making sure that they can go to Wal-Mart,” said Johnson.

“It doesn’t matter what the project is, but when we get members together, a group of people together, we decide as a whole what projects we want to do and how we want to fundraise and where we want to spend that money. 

“There’s not really a commitment when people become a member of Kiwanis, they are only committed to do what they want to do and what they can do.”

One problem Johnson encountered last year, and is worried about this year, is that people don’t quite understand why you would join a Kiwanis Club, and why they would have to pay for membership. The membership is approximately $100 per year, which isn’t much, said Johnson, when you think of what you get back from it. 

“I’ve been involved in it for almost 10 years and it’s given me back more then I have given it,” said Johnson.

“It’s part of all of our duties to make sure that people are being taken care of in the community, especially the kids.”

In order to bring Kiwanis to Strathmore, there needs to be at least 25 people who join. A few ideas are in the planning to try to promote the club and find the membership. There has been discussion about mailing an invitation for people to join and visiting businesses to see if they would be interested in joining. 

Johnson said they are also looking for members of the public to contact him if they are interested in finding out more, or in joining. Johnson can be reached at 403-829-5844 or via email at cbj@coryjohnson.ca.