An Okotoks service club dedicated to helping vulnerable children is looking to expand its membership.
The Kiwanis Okotoks Club is hosting a meet-and-greet via Zoom on Feb. 24 featuring guest speaker Irene Pfeiffer, a recipient of the Order of Canada for her dedication to community volunteerism.
“She said, ‘I volunteer because I’m selfish. I get so much more out of volunteering than those I volunteer for,’” said Wendy Adam, president of Kiwanis Okotoks. “And I thought, that sums it up very nicely.”
Kiwanis members get a lot of out of helping their community, she said.
During the annual Kids Christmas Toy Project, during which children are given $40 to spend on a gift of their own choosing at Okotoks Walmart, the joy on the faces of children and parents speaks volumes, she said.
Adam was working the registration table when one little boy’s excitement and gratitude filled the store.
“He was in a shopping cart standing up and he was coming up to us, jumping up and down, saying, ‘I get a toy! I get a toy!’” said Adam. “I could hear him all over the store – ‘I have a toy, I love you!’
“These kind of things are why you do it.”
The club also partnered with several other groups, including Okotoks Rotary, MyCityCare Okotoks and the Okotoks Family Wellness Centre to manage the 2020 Stuff the Bus campaign. The annual project has volunteers fill backpacks with school supplies based on lists from specific students’ schools to help families in need with back to school expenses.
This year, a donation of nine pallets of inventory from Staples helped fill the backpacks and the owners of Big Horn Office Building provided free space for people to sort supplies and fill bags, she said.
Adam said it was fulfilling for all volunteers involved to work as one big team and help local families.
“It was a great partnership, because there were many hands to help,” she said.
Both projects aimed at the Kiwanis International mandate to help vulnerable children, she said.
During a normal year, exposure from events helps drive new membership interest, but she said it’s been difficult this year. That’s why Kiwanis Okotoks members decided to host an informal meet-and-greet session to let people know the types of projects the club is working on and initiatives it is considering for the future.
Engaging with potential new members is a common problem, she said.
“There’s no service club that is not having difficulty finding members,” said Adam.
Annual dues are paid to Kiwanis International but the local club keeps that amount as low as possible for individuals, she said.
For members of Kiwanis Okotoks, it’s about helping out in the community, particularly with vulnerable children and families, and enjoying one another’s company while doing it, she said.
“It’s a place where someone can do a little or some people can do a lot,” said Adam. “It gives another opportunity to volunteers, because we don’t always have money but all of us have a little bit of time to make a difference.”
The Zoom session on Feb. 24 starts at 7 p.m. and a link to join can be found at https://kiwanisokotoks.ca/
