Kiwanis Club of the Helderbergs

Our club is involved in a variety of projects that involve fundraising, community service, and assisting children locally and worldwide.  Below are the projects in which we are currently involved:
The first meeting of every month: members bring personal care items and food useful to senior citizens (low sodium, gluten-free, small servings) to be donated to the Hilltowns Food Pantry.

August: Club members and friends "adopted" 20 needy Hilltowns students, and supplied each with a new backpack, sneakers, and the grade-level supplies needed to successfully begin a new school year.

June: We continue maintaining our community gardens.
May: Our biggest community service project is the Hilltowns Memorial Day Parade. Held on the actual day, it includes the VFW and the American Legion standbearers and color guard, a tribute to our oldest veterans, the BKW Marching Band, floats, fire company apparatus and marchers from 7 local fire companies, 2 ambulances, NYS Police and Albany County Sheriffs, marchers from several youth groups and, of course, horses ridden and driven. We start planning in January for this event, and the Club President serves as master of ceremonies at the memorial events following the parade at the BKW campus. 
May: We provide a $100 scholarship to a BKW senior for community service.
May: We provided support to Girl Scout Jordan Hadley as she works with the Friends of the Berne Library to create a Story Walk at the Berne Town Park.
April: The gardening season begins! We've clean up the flower beds at the intersection of Route 156 and 157 to get them ready for planting. Individual members "adopt" one of the beds. We also "adopt" the flower bed at the memorial in front of the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School.
April: Our first roadside clean-up; for years, we  have been responsible for the section of Route 156 from the Guilderland Town line to Pleasant Valley Road. This year's first event was on April 16th.
March: We voted to award a $300 scholarship to a BKW middle school girl to play on an AAU travelling basketball team. The scholarship covers registration fees, uniform, officiation fees and incidentals.
March/April: We work with the Hilltowns Food Pantry to assemble Easter food baskets for 24 Hilltowns families who are food pantry clients. The baskets will include a ham; 5-10 pounds of potatoes depending on family size; fresh carrots; cabbage; 3-5 pounds of onions; canned fruits and vegetables; fresh locally-baked rolls; and the makings for dessert. There is enough food to last for several days. 
March: The Kiwanis Maple Festival is our biggest fundraiser, and planning begins early. In past years it was held at the Knox Firehouse on Route 156 in the Hamlet of Knox. A public pancake breakfast was served from 9:00am - 1:30 pm; it offered pancakes, wonderful sausages, scrambled eggs, applesauce and Stewart's ice cream, all with locally-produced maple syrup. Local sugar producers offer tours of their sugar making operations; maps are available at the fire house. In addition, there were a few local venders, pony rides (for a fee) by Ponies For Hire, and  Easter Egg Hunt at 1 pm, weather permitting. In 2016 we earned almost $1500 for our projects.
February: The club voted to sponsor a Little League team again this year; we've been doing this for at least 20 years. We also voted to purchase a sponsor banner to hang on the fence of the ballpark.  
Ferbruary: We voted to sponsor a BKW sophomore to attend the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Training seminar in May. 
January: The club voted $150 to purchase small stuffed animals for the Helderberg Ambulance to give to children traumatized by injuries to themselves or those they love. 
December: A group has met at Mike Hammond's workshop to assemble as many as 70 bluebird houses that he had previously cut out. We'll sell these in winter and spring to raise funds to support some of our charitable activities.
December: We have made a donation to the Senior Girl Scouts for their Silver Award Project.
November/December: We have adopted families with children for the holidays through the Hilltowns Community Resource Center. Members have shopped for clothes and toys for the children using funds budgeted by the Club (plus some personal funds), and deliver the items to the Christmas Project at the Hilltowns Community Resource Center.
November:  We have met at the Hilltowns Food Pantry to assemble food baskets for 24 Hilltowns families who are food pantry clients. The baskets usually include a frozen turkey; 5-10 pounds of potatoes depending on family size; fresh carrots; cabbage; 3-5 pounds of onions; canned fruits and vegetables; fresh locally-baked rolls; and the makings for dessert. There is enough food to last for several days. We also deliver baskets to clients who cannot pick them up.
 November: We have assisted our Key Club at Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School in sponsoring coat drives. We picked up the coats from the school, sorted, cleaned and repaired them if necessary, and dropped them off to the Hilltowns Community Resource Center in Westerlo.

We believe that those who give the most are the happiest. There is nothing more beautiful than individuals who reach out to make other people’s lives beautiful. It teaches us the value of service to others and shows us how important our contributions are in making this world a better place most especially for the children. 

Personal growth and development:  Membership provides education in human relations and personal development. Being in service to others develops good character in every person. It gives us experiences that teach and develop us to become better individuals. 

Make friends and be part of something great:  Being a member allows one to take part in the many activities and projects we create. We have a great group of members who enjoy spending time with each other for the betterment of our community.