Weekly Kiwanis News 04/18

Posted by Tim Buenz

on Apr 18, 2012

There were 41 members in attendance today and 4 guests. Three guests were quickly inducted as our newest members. Welcome to Shawna Arnold, Sean Sebourn, and Mike Wahl, we are glad to have you on the Kiwanis team! Brenda Batschelet from the Aktion Club was also a guest. Vern reported a can deposit of $63.95. A total of $131.00 was collected from members as a Skip-A-Meal program donation. Linda and Hollie reported on the very successful Aktion Club mini-conference that was held last Saturday. They thanked the club for the financial support that we provided for the event.

Derrik Bauer had the program today. He introduced Erich Kretzinger, Habitat for Humanity Executive Director for Boone & Greene Counties. Completely new in 2012 will be a program offering external home repairs to low income homeowners in Greene County. This represents a significant new effort to reach out to a group in need of assistance that has not been the focus of Habitat for Humanity in the past. Each Brush With Kindness project is anticipated to last a few weeks with a minimum of one project planned for each community of Churdan, Grand Junction, Jefferson,Paton, Rippey and Scranton.

With local support and available families, more projects can be accepted. Typical projects will include scrape and paint, weatherization, accessibility ramps, landscaping renovation and general repairs. As with the Habitat house program, partner families are asked to contribute sweat equity and pay back the cost of materials with a zero-percent loan over a reasonable term of years. There is no charge for volunteer labor. Local groups may choose to sponsor projects, paying for the cost of materials leaving homeowners with no out-of-pocket expense. Thanks to Derrik and Erich for the update on changes in the Habitat programming. Visit the local Habitat website here.