Dear Fellow Kiwanians,
I have had such a rewarding year as your president in what has amounted to be yet another challenging year in every aspect of our mission. But the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta, Georgia’s oldest and largest Kiwanis Club, has not been around for 103 years without having faced and overcome many challenges. With your help, we have had a very successful year, and I would love to share some of those highlights with you here.
My goals for this year were based on our three mission principles: learn, serve, and connect.
Learn:
My first goal was to take advantage of the current zoom meeting environment by seeking out not only great local and regional speakers, but national speakers to expand our knowledge of the events that not only affect our communities but shape our world. Program Chair, Mary Pat Crouch and her committee absolutely knocked it out of the park with our array of fabulous and diverse speakers.
Serve:
My second goal was to nurture and insure we did not lose the strong connections we have with our partners in service to our youth and the community at large: finding creative ways to support the work that is being done with K-Kids, Key Clubs, Circle Ks, Boys and Girls Clubs, Younger Years, Camp Kiwanis, Hillside, Dean Rusk and the USO.
I think we managed to do just that as we were able. Here are some examples:
Emory Circle K, under the watchful eye of Margaret Reiser, is a great example of a successful Circle K partnership this past year. Under the leadership of Emory’s Circle K President, Sharay Castanon, the club started off strong with a service project of writing letters of support to healthcare workers as well as to nursing homes personnel. They also received the club award for the Most Improved Club and were recognized for participating in the Governor’s WASH project.
And finally, Sharay and Simon Jiang, received the distinguished club officer award for the president and secretary positions!
Heidy Brusitus and her Military Affairs Committee kept our volunteering for the USO going strong!
A shout out to Tom Adams for spear heading the dedication of “Claire’s Cabin”, in honor of retiring Camp Kiwanis Director, Claire Guitton.
This year’s virtual Philanthropy in the Classroom day was a success as we, in partnership with the Association of Fundraising Professionals, read virtually to 6 Boys and Girls Clubs over three days. This was new this year due to Covid, as we normally read in person at 3 area metro middle and elementary schools.
My thanks to our Kiwanis Foundation Committee and all those who contributed this past year as we were able to make $280,000 in grants to 54 local charities who provide educational and other vital services to our community’s youth.
Connect:
My third goal was to elevate the image of Kiwanis in our community via our marketing and social media presence, increase membership, and continue to provide networking opportunities at club meetings and in the community.
Despite the loss of 24 members, 4 due to death and 20 for various other reasons (not unusual for clubs like ours during these times as we have discovered), we have picked up at least 13 new members at the time of this writing, many skewing “younger”, with a handful more in the “pipeline”.
Thanks to Thornton Kennedy, Jennifer Pearson, and all those who tooted our Kiwanis horn this year and got the word out about all good things Kiwanis.
And thank you, Thornton, and Christina Faine for bringing some serious sunshine to our meetings every month.
Covid’s effect on membership has pushed us to think of more innovative ways to seek, invite and attract new members. Membership Chairs, Susan Adams and Raphael Holloway have devised a plan for targeting prospects and assigning calls to the committee members that will certainly pay new member dividends in the coming year.
Once restrictions eased we were able to get out and once again enjoy some good Kiwanis fellowship with 2 5th Tuesday’s outings at Truist Park and Zoo Atlanta.
Kudos to Carlye Dooley and the finance committee who kept a watchful eye on our finances and completed another audit without exceptions and moved our reserve funds to a more productive investment vehicle.
I was honored to attend this year’s KI Convention in Salt Lake City, waving the flag for Georgia District 1. We learned new ideas for growing membership, got a great perspective on how other clubs are doing in comparison to ours (we should be very proud), and discovered how KI is faring through the pandemic.
Our interclub activity remained strong this year and we were all thrilled with Mike Halpin’s election to Lt. Governor for the 2022-2023 year.
I want to thank the board, our committee chairs and committee members, and those members who stepped up during the year to help out in various capacities. Everything from agreeing to bring the invocation, to serving as greeters, and providing our music, to volunteering for the USO, and bringing ideas to Mary Pat for great speakers.
Most of all I want to thank Karen Losin, the best Executive Director in the world, for keeping everything running smoothly all year as we adapted to our virtual world. This would never have happened if Karen had not dug in and became an expert in all the technology required to make our Zoom meetings successful! And this was is addition to the other thousands of responsibilities she has to run our club effectively and efficiently.
I may have missed a few things here and perhaps did not recognize everyone who did such a remarkable job in holding us together this year, but everyone’s participation even in the smallest way helped make this year successful, as I have tried to summarize here. Nothing, however, could have been accomplished without your devotion of time, talent, and financial support even when the future was so uncertain. I believe it’s because you believe in Kiwanis and that it is, and will continue to be a vital arm of Atlanta’s service community.
Respectfully submitted,
David Moore, President
Atlanta Kiwanis Club 2020-2021