The Key RingVol. XXXIV No. 2

August 2013

The official publication of the Georgia Districtof KEY CLUB INTERNATIONAL

Governor’s Address

Greetings Georgia District,

I hope you all had a wonderful summer and you are ready to start a great school year full of service! The Georgia District has lots of new activates planned for this year and are excited to share them throughout our homes, schools and communities. The Georgia District just returned from Key Club International Convention 2013 in Washington, D.C.. We had 43 members in attendance and had an awesome time. We were able to elect our new International President Raeford Penny from the Capital District and our new International Vice President Rachel Benoit from the Louisiana, Mississippi, West Tennessee District. We also elected eleven trustees we will be working with throughout the year. Georgia is anxious-ly waiting to hear who will be assigned their trustee for the year. I would like to invite you all to our Georgia Leadership Training Conference on August 24th. The event will be held at Six Flags over Georgia and will be full of fun, food, and friends! This event is open to all members in the Georgia District, but is mainly focused on training officers and kicking off our service year! I hope you all will join us as we “Dive into Service!” The Georgia District of Key Club International will also be hosting a Kiwanis Family Day at Georgia Tech on November 23rd. This will be our first time ever hosting the event! Even if you are not a Georgia Tech fan, this event will raise awareness about the Eliminate Project and encourage Kiwanis Family Bonding throughout our district. This year the second annual Key Leader in St. Simons will be occurring in St. Simons Island, Georgia on October 18-20, 2013. The event is open to all high school students 14-18. The event only cost $25 for Key Club Members and $50 for non Key Club Members. I highly encourage your club to attend and learn the basics of becoming a servant leader. I hope you all are ready to have a great year serving! As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!

In Service,

Katie FullerGovernor of the Georgia District of Key Club International

GloverDianeTreasurer

Secretary

Greetings Georgia District,

I hope that you enjoyed you summer vacation, I know I did. I hope that you guys are excited about the new school year, as that means that Key Club is coming back to a full swing. With that being said, I would like to stress the importance of paying dues on time. It costs a total of $13 to become an official member Key Club International. Of the $13 per member, $6.50 goes to Key Club International and $6.50 goes to the Georgia District. Dues are required to make board meetings and district events, which I hope to, see you guys in, and

to providing resources to clubs around the state. I would like to remind everyone that my goal is to have no one in the delinquent list by collecting all the dues on time. I hope that you guys would allow me to achieve this goal by sending in your dues. Early Bird dues are due by October 1st and ALL dues should be turned in by November 1st. All clubs becomes delinquent and will have to turn in their dues by December 1st. After this date, if your club still haven’t paid your dues, your club becomes inactive and will have to pay a reactivation fee to Key Club International. Please do not hesitate to contact me through my e-mail at treasurer@gakeyclub.org if you have any comments or concerns about dues.

Yours in Service,Diane GloverDistrict Treasurer

Hallie Smith

Greetings Georgia District,

I hope everyone had a fantastic summer! Now that the new school year is here, we must all welcome new members and clubs to our family! We also have many district wide events coming up soon! So make sure that you check the Georgia Key Club website for those dates. I would like to thank all of those clubs who turned in their Officer Information by the due date. To those of you, who have not turned your in-formation in, please do so as soon as possible. You can submit that at the Georgia Key Club website or email it to your Lt. Governor.

I hope the start of the school year is great for all of you!

Yours in Friendship and Service,Hallie SmithDistrict Secretary

In this issue...

What does Georgia think about ICON?

A message from your INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEE

A Call to Service!

Speaking of Committees...

International Convention!

What does Georgia think about ICON?Key Club International Convention 2013 in D.C. was one of the best times I ever had! Touring the different monuments and museums, such as the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol, with my district made my trip even better. One of my favorite memories from D.C. has to be touring the International Spy Museum. All of the displays were really cool and I had a fun time. The first day of ICON was very exciting and set the mood for the rest of the convention. One of my favorite memories from ICON was pin trading. It was my first time ever trading pins and I had a blast! All of the workshops were very beneficial to my club as well as myself, and the different booths at the Service Fair made me more aware of different projects and charities. The sessions throughout the convention were all very enjoyable and entertaining! My favorite session was the recognition session because I got to see all of the talented Key Clubbers in the talent show. Although it felt like the convention went by way too fast, I still had one of the best times of my life. Throughout this trip, I spent time with fellow Key Clubbers who share the same passion for service, and I made memories that will last me a lifetime.

-Vanessa Boone, Division 5 Lt. Governor

June 30th through July 7th marked one of the most amazing, inspiring and wonderful experience I have ever had. That week, 43 Georgia District Key Clubbers headed to Washington D.C to participate in the 70th An-nual Key Club International Convention. The Georgia District went on an extended tour which made us bond with each other even more. It was an increadibly hectic week which consisted of roller coasters in Virginia to the Holocaust Museum to the Newseum to a Moonlight tour of the most famous monuments in Washington D.C and exploring the city on our own

using our metro passes and to participating in business activities during the convention. Of all the laughs, jokes and memo-ries made during this trip, there are several parts of the convention which stuck with me and will forever be a part of my amazing Key Club experience. One of my favorite part was the service fair. The service fair is where each district tries to raise money for their district project, for us, it was the Georgia Sheriff’s Youth Homes. As a fundraiser, we sold “Key Club Sunglasses” and GSYH 25th year anniversary pins. We started of by going around asking people to buy our products as well as giv-ing out flyers which explains what the project is for. About 45 minutes into the fair we’ve only sold a fair amount of sunglasses so we had to up our mar-keting strategy. Jason Kim our Lt. Governor of Division 15 took his guitar down and started playing, for everyone who went to District Convention you guys know how incredibly talented Jason is. We started off playing songs and singing the original lyrics and all of us sudden we started changing them. We were singing, dancing and having fun and almost everyone who walked passed our booth stopped to either take a picture, buy our products or take a video of our crazy singing. It was hard to come up with lyrics but we made renditions of Call Me

Maybe, Payphone, I’m Yours and Rocketeer. My personal favorite would be our Call Me Maybe lyrics… “Hey I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s some glasses, so buy some maybe!” It was hilarious but by the end of the service fair we sold almost all of the glasses and raised $1,500! So I guess our singing was a success. International Convention has made me love Key Club even more, which I thought was impossible considering I’ve been in a committed relationship with it for three years now. It brought us all together, not just the district board but also to the other districts. You meet so many increadible people who under-stands your passion and sometimes frustration about the job but does nothing except pick you back up. Although some of the people who had been an inspi-ration to me are leaving as they move on, we didn’t say goodbye, we simply said

“see you later.” I highly encourage you guys to go to International Convention next year in Anaheim, California and I can assure you that it will be the best experience of your life!

-Diane Glover, District Treauerer

Hi, I’m Tyler Jones, Lt. Governor Division 6, and I recently attended my first International Convention. It was a very fun experience being in our nation’s capital with other Key Clubbers. Key Clubbers came from all over to mingle, learn, and discover ways to better Key Club International. The workshops I took taught me how to be a better board member and how to use skills Key Club has taught me to help build a better com-munity. The Lt. Governor workshop really showed me a new how Lt. Governors are vital for Key Club interna-tional. It was also fun bonding with the district board. Not only did we get to learn how to help improve the world through service, we also had time to explore the city. The trip also helped give my club a voice on the international level of Key Club, when I served as a delegate for my home club at Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School. I was glad that I helped influence the policies and board members of Key Club International. Key Club International also managed to put multiple opportunities to have fun in the con-vention. Attending Key Clubbers go to go to dances, luncheons, and have free time in the city. These were great time to meet new Key Clubbers and here new ideas on how to build the community. The experience of ICON was an amazing and eye opening experience for me and I cannot wait to attend the convention next year in Ananheim. -Tyler Jones, Divion 6 Lt. Governor

This year for ICON we had over forty people that attended for Georgia District. We had a great time learning how to improve our District. During the week we enjoyed many activities. We started our week off by going to Busch Gardens, the Holocaust Museum, Newseum, and enjoyed the Moon Light Tour. But a little rain did not hold Georgia District back from having a great time. We went to the Spy Museum and to Capitol Hill. Also I learned Key Clubbers love going to Five Guys, a burger place.We also had some wonderful speakers and entertainment throughout the week, including Elizabeth Smart and Michael C. Anthony. During the convention, we had very important tasks to finish. We elected our new International Board President, Raeford Penny, and our Vice President, Rachel Benoit. We also elected eight other Trustees. We also rose over $1,500 for the Georgia Sheriff’s Youth Homes! -Michelle Lewis, Division 15 Lt. Governor

“Unveil theWhen I first embarked on my journey to ICON, I became filled with a mix of anxiety, and excitement. My anxiety stemmed from the idea of being a small fish in huge sea. Out of the thousands of people from all over the globe, I would be one person; I knew I was bound to be overwhelmed. But my excitement more or less over shadowed my anxiety. I mean who wouldn’t be excited to go to DC and meet thousands of Key Clubbers. As soon as the trip started, I knew I was about to make some of the best memories of my life thus far. Although bus rides are rarely comfortable, I quickly forgot of any discomfort I felt. We played a game which was a mix of Taboo and Headbandz on board member’s iPad. We all laughed as one person held an iPad above their heads and the rest of us frantically helped him figure out what was written on the iPad before time ran out. We played for most of the final stretch of the bus ride. When we finally reached the first hotel, my roommates and I spent the night watching bizarre life time movies and eating complementary popcorn. Who doesn’t love free popcorn? We stayed up so late and decided that sleeping would probably be a good idea because we’d have to wake up early for Busch Gardens. I have gone to Busch Gardens two times before, but none of the times that I have gone compare to the fun I had there this time around with my fellow Georgia key clubbers. As rain started, we became worried that the rides would close and our ex-citing adventure at Busch Gardens would come to a close. Fortunately, luck was on our side. None of the rides closed. Instead, every ride became a water ride with no lines. We rode every ride a million times and we didn’t have to use our fast passes be-cause there were no lines to use them with. And the best part was that we had the absolute best heaven-on-a-plate funnel cake that I have ever eaten in my entire life. I couldn’t move after scarfing down that funnel cake with a few of my fellow Georgian key clubbers. Unfortunately, we could not spend the entire night at the amusement park, so we continued to DC. The next day came muse-ums and monuments, and yummy food. The excitement for the official beginning of ICON mounted. Finally, we reached the day of the meet and greet. I would finally be able to meet so many people from around the United States and around the Earth. At the meet and great I experience Key Club Pin Trading for the first time. It was hectic, enter-taining, and amusing. I got so many new pins from new places and with each pin came a new friend to say “hey” to through-out the weekend. As the weekend continued, we continued to make more friends whether the friends came from walking around DC or hanging out at the pool. And the Storybook Dance introduced me to my Aladdin (I was dressed as Princess Jasmine.). I met so many great people at that dance. And DC was the perfect location for my first ICON. I got to visit Chinatown and eat the best Chinese food in DC. I got the opportunity to use the metro and figure out that whole confusing system. And the fact that the Fourth of July occurred while we were there added to the whole experience. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. We celebrated the amazing memories we made that weekend at the Eliminate Dance. People sold paraphernalia used to raise money for a great cause, and we got enjoy great music, great people, and “great” dancing (our dancing ability is questionable). I hope to go to ICON next year in Anaheim to continue to meet enthusiastic servant leaders and make more priceless memories.

-Avya Bhargave, Division 8 Lt. Governor

This year I attended my first International Convention! It was an amazing experience. I enjoyed every minute of it! I have a few stories from the trip that stood out. The first was while we were at Bush Gardens. It had been raining all day, off and on, and we were already wet. So we decided to ride a few water rides. Governor Katie, Administrator Brad Malone, K-Family/Endorsed Projects Chair Rey, and I decided to get on a ride very similar to “Thunder River” at Six Flags. It was a six chair boat split into three groups of two seats so, Katie and I each got our own section of seats while Brad and Rey shared one sec-tion. As we started down the “river”, I barely got wet. Well, that is, until we got to the waterfalls. Just as Rey and Brad were about to get drenched by the waterfalls, the boat turned and I ended up going under not just one, but all four waterfalls. Later on in the trip, while we were in DC, we got to visit the Spy Museum! We crawled through air vents, got fake identi-ties, and caught bad guys, all while being suspicious of everyone around us. During the convention we had several events to attend. We had two dances, one of which was a character dance! I dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. Ironically, when I got on the bus to go to ICON I found out that Bulletin Editor Paul, was going as the Woodsman from the story of Little Red Riding Hood! He had a fake beard and ax for the costume and everything. When all of us got to the dance, two or three people came up to Paul to get a picture with him! It was quite funny. Those were just a few stories from ICON. If you would like to hear more, I would be more than glad to share some during free time at a district event! -Hallie Smith, District Secretary

I am happy to say that Georgia District is back from DC and ready to serve you. We have learned so many new vital skills that have shaped us to become greater leaders and servers. International Convention was a magnificent event where we were able to meet key clubbers from all over the world and share ideas and different techniques that allow us to make Key Club International a better organization as a whole. The days spent at ICON were life changing and helped create unbreakable bonds amongst key clubs. This convention is definitely something worth looking in and something worth planning to attend. I encourage you all to take the initiative to attend our ICON next year at Anaheim, California. -Uzziel Rodriguez, Division 11 Lt. Governor

The Georgia District Board taking a group photo after the end of closing session of ICON 2013

The Key Leader program is unique in

that it takes place in a camp style

environment. This event is open to Key

Clubbers, JROTC cadets, and any other

student within the ages of 14-18

in Georgia.

Important Info:Cost for Key Clubbers:$25

General members: $50Dates:

October 18-20 in St. Simons Island, GA

Do you have what it takes to be leader? An ambition to help, serve? A desire to be the best you can be? Key Leader is a national program spon-sored by Kiwanis International for the objective of building the future leaders of tomorrow. This program offers a variety of interactive sessions that build leadership, service, integrity and many other life helping qualities.

“Act the way you want to be and soon you’ll be the way you act” – Bob Dylan

Learn more at theeliminateproject.org

Greetings, Mighty Georgia District!I am Zack Waldorf, and it is an honor to have been chosen as your trustee for the 2013-2014 service year. As international trustee, I have two major duties. First, I am a liaison between your district and the international level of Key Club, meaning I represent your opinions, wills, and interests during our board meetings. Second, I am an international committee member; I serve on both the Communications Committee and the Executive Committee.The Communications Committee is in charge of im-proving Key Club’s overall communication. Specifically, we are focusing on the Key Club app, minor improve-ments to the website, and developing a system to receive feedback on the membership update center. The Execu-tive Committee is in charge of other items that are not appropriate for the international board to discuss as a

whole such as board performance or club loss within districts.On a more personal note, I hail from the New Jersey District, tiny in geographical size, but mighty in spirit and character. I live in a very small town called Califon and I work at a local coffee shop as a barista (I’m a bit of a wannabe hipster). I served as a lieutenant governor last year as well as the International Programs co-chairperson for New Jersey, so I think I have a nice mix of skills to help you on your journey through your terms.Although some past trustees have reputations of being faceless, I want to be a fundamental part of your district. I want you all to see me as an approachable resource, who will help you better serve your homes, schools, and communities.I plan on communicating with you not only through written/video newsletters, but through phone calls! If you would like to set up a time to talk, please contact me! Keep a lookout for my first newsletter, which should be published within the week.I am so excited to meet and work with you all.

Happy Serving,

Zack WaldorfInternational Trustee for Georgia, LaMissTenn, and Texas-OklahomaEmail: trustee.waldorf@gmail.comCell Phone: (908) 268-9165

International Trustee

SERVICE Last fall my home club participated in Trick or Treat for UNICEF. I picked up my box and the first thing I did was deco-rate it. It was a little before Halloween and I set the box in my house and put loose change in my box. When it was time for Halloween, I had my cos-tume ready and my box with me. I did trick or treat and Trick or Treat for UNICEF at the same time. While I was getting candy and having a great time with my friends, I was also saving lives. We were up all night collecting candy and change until the lights in houses started to turn off and people started to run out of candy. I did get some change from people here and there. There were a few dollar bills, but it was mostly pocket change. The thing I love most about Trick or Treat for UNICEF is it is different for every person. Every person in my home club had a different story of how they filled up their boxes. Everyone has a different story and can make it personal. After hours of counting change, my home club did raise a lot of money that fall. I look forward to Trick or Treat for UNICEF again this fall.

A Call To

This year, I and the south west Georgia homeschool association, were asked by our local kiwanians to assist them in planting a huge butterfly garden with the master gardeners of Albany Georgia for the entire community to see. Not only was this event fun, but we also got to plant a home for beautiful monarch butterflies to enjoy. This only took a little bit of time. it was such a joy to help the Kiwanis and the master gardeners with this project, and an awesome sight to see all of these teens and elders work together to make our community a more beautiful place.

Division 3

Planting a Butterfly GardenBy Sara-Ashley butler

Division 2

Trick or Treat is ALWAYS a treat! By Emily Clement

My home club, the Sandy Creek High School Key club, participated

in our local Rivers Alive event the fall of 2012. Our club volunteers, as well as city

volunteers, met at town hall and were given an area of the city to clean up and

volunteer supplies. We split up into groups of 7 people each and headed to our

designated areas. We started cleaning streams, lake beds, roadsides, and

riverbeds. Once we were finished, it looked great! It took us about an hour to get our

area clean. Aside from the usual cans, bottles, and wrappers, we happened to

stumble across some pretty unusual things! Out of the trash we picked up we found a children’s book, a music speaker, metal

silverware, and an eggplant fresh from the store. We dropped off all of our bags of

trash at town hall and headed home. We had a fun time and didn’t have to go very

far to do it. We were cleaning up right outside our own homes. Our club likes to participate in clean-ups, because helping

the outdoors remain clean is one of the many aspects of giving. We enjoyed Rivers Alive 2012 and look forward to attending

fall of 2013.

Division 5

The river... is ALIVE! By Venessa Boone

Last fall, the Key Club of Chattahoochee High School of Division 1 delved into a project it plans to repeat again this year: Bert’s Big Thank You. The project, run by The Bert Show on the radio station Q100 Atlanta, is a yearly collection of letters to overseas soldiers thanking them for keeping us safe and wishing them a happy Thanksgiving. The station’s goal was to have 400,000 letters sent to overseas soldiers for Thanksgiving, and Chattahoochee students brought the station 202 letters closer to the goal. Chattahoochee Key Clubbers spearheaded the project and spread it around the school and community: each writing at least one letter, encouraging family and friends to write some too, and running a collection table in the cafeteria. CHS Key Clubbers got students all over the school to submit letters thanking our troops! Each letter was original, handwritten, free of political messages (all requirements by Q100 Atlanta), and most importantly, each one was heartfelt. The club’s goal was to send the love that Key Clubbers are so well known for to soldiers feeling lonely during the holidays. As well as hoping that the soldiers felt their gratitude for serving our country, the students hoped that their letters brought a smile to a soldier’s face, making him or her feel loved if even for just a moment because that warm, happy feeling love brings is what makes the holi-days. When school starts up again this fall, Chattahoochee Key Clubbers plan to start collecting for Bert’s Big Thank You even sooner to help even more soldiers feel that love during the holidays.

Division 1

It’s aDear Soilder...By Erica Petz SPRING FLING

By Avya Bhargave

Division 8

The McIntosh High School Key Club participates in helping out the Peachtree City El-ementary Spring Fling every year. The Peachtree City Elementary Spring Fling involves bouncy castles, inflatable obstacle courses, food, and rock walls. Basically, the Spring Fling is small fair for young children. Our club helps by super-vising the children and ensures they have a fun time.. Every year, I help with the inflatable ob-stacle course. The wind always refuses to blow and the sun always beats fiercely over us, but the look on the children’s faces make the experience worth it. I love how eager the waiting kids look. The kids joke with you in line and dance to the blaring music emanating through the speakers. We have our own mini dancing contest sepa-rate from the one happening across the play ground., but inflatable obstacle courses are just the beginning. Some people help with the giant rock wall. Everyone crowds around and cheers really loudly to encourage the child who has almost reached the top. A cake walk provides some indoor entertainment and shelter from the blazing sun (yay for air conditioning.). If the heat becomes too much, we get the opportunity to participate in the dunk tank. Children would crowd around cheering for every ball which hit the bull’s-eye and resulted in a very wet human. For when people get hungry, our Key Clubbers volunteer by passing out food and drink under a small tent. The children are happy; the parents are happy that the children are happy; and the Key Club-bers are happy that everyone they helped just enjoyed an unforgettable celebration marking the beginning of summer.

Hi, this is Tyler Jones, Lt. Governor Division 6 and I recently volunteered at an event benefiting the Special Olympics of Georgia. The event was called Color Me Rad and was held in Conyers, Georgia on Saturday July 13, 2013. The event was very fun and it was great knowing that I was volunteering to help raise money for such a great cause. The event was organized by Ms. Natalie Hranek to raise a minimum of $5,600 for the Special Olympics. The day began with a crowd dressed in solid white workout clothes, but throughout the day would be tie-dyed dur-ing a 5k run to help raise funds. During the run, merchandise was sold and the booths of spon-sors were set up. Multiple businesses came out to support the Special Olympics. The K-Family was also present at the event, with Circle K and Kiwanis members both showing up. I met many wonderful people who all came to help better the community by working together, volunteer-ing, and sacrificing their time to be there. I was glad that this many people came out to support the caus. At the end of the day color was every-where including on me and the other volunteers, but we were just happy to help.

Color Me Rad for the Special Olympics

By Tyler JonesDivision 6

South Forsyth Key Club served its county with a simple but important activity. Road Clean Up! On November 30th, the South Forsyth Key Club members dedicated their Friday afternoon to clean up the road around their school. About 25 students and 2 advisors gathered up in a field nearby the school, and started to pick up the trash-es thrown off to the side from the cars. Because it was not very far from the beginning of the year, the members were able to bond with each other more, and they seemed to have enjoyed the project itself as well. Last year, South Forsyth Key Club “adopted” a road nearby, and frequent-ly cleaned it up. They did the same this year to clean up the environment of their home area.Road Clean Ups can often be disdained, because of its relatively small size and grandness of the project itself. However, to serve the world, the service has to start regionally. This type of projects near school is the very basic that need to be done for the Key Club leaders to excessively serve the world. Also, if a Road Clean Up is done in the beginning of the year, it will provide a great way for the members to bond with each other and introduce the unity that they will get as Key Club. Being my personally favorite service projects, the Road Clean Ups are the basic and the be-ginning of all services we can do as leaders.

Eastside High School Key Club has a huge support system from for the High School Band. Whenever the band performs we always challenge the audience who attend to bring an item for a local charity. At Thanks-giving we request everybody to bring can food and at Christmas we ask them to bring jackets. Or if we need help with our annual Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes bake sale we can always find extra assistance from the band members. We can always get our pep band to play at soup kitchen when we sever at Christmas time. We may be giving them food. But the pep band helps bring them joy when they hear the wonderful Christmas tunes. To the smallest gift to the largest they always love when we come and take time to show that we care.

The Key Club BandersBy Michelle LewisDivision 15

Clean Up The RoadBy Jason KimDivision 14

Speaking of Committees...

The Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes is our continued Georgia District Project for the 2013-2014 year. As of July, we have approximately raised $3,900 of our goal for the year. At ICON, we were able to raise $1,500 selling sunglasses and GSYH pins! With the school year coming to a start, I encourage all clubs to create proj-ects that will interact with the youth homes and raise funds for the expansion of the learning center. There are many service project ideas that you can do as a club. Playing football, playing board games, and making crafts are a few simple and great ideas that can be done visiting a home in your area. If you are not able to visit a youth home, donations will always be accepted to the home nearest to your club. Although DCON is a ways away, it is never to early to start fund raising. The club goal for the year is $400. If each club raises this amount, we will reach our goal of $25,000! Let’s use this school year to exceed our goal and do a lot to impact the lives of the children living at the Georgia Sheriff’s Youth

Homes.

This year, the Public Relations Committee is working to publicize all of this year’s district events and get you guys the latest updates. In previous years, we didn’t make much use of some of our social media outlets, like our Youtube page. We only have so many ideas for videos and we can’t always create and upload them. We will be uploading some more content later on during the year, but so that we can get our channel going, we are giving you guys a chance to represent yourselves and your clubs through our channel! I will be sending out an email asking for video submit-ting later on when school begins and local Key clubs start to meet. I will not be giv-ing a lot of information about this now, but look forward to this later on. Another thing that we will be implementing this year is monthly club reports. These reports will be created and submitted by your club to the district. They will help us keep track of how your club is doing and how the district is doing as a whole. Even though it will be more work, this will help us improve your clubs and other clubs is

the district. I will also be sending an email about this when school starts on more information about these reports. I look forward to working with all of you this year!

Public Relations Chair Paul Hwang

District Projects Chair Elaine Clapp

I am Steve Shin and I am your Director of Special Activities. I am in charge of coordinating all district-wide events, mainly District Convention. Throughout the year, I lead a group of district board members in planning District Con-vention. This includes: planning and creating the agenda for the convention, working on the script for the sessions, set-ting the final budget and registration fees, and choosing the entertainers to make your experience at District Convention as great as could be. I also work on the District T-Shirt and Pin design. Finally, I work with the Public Relations com-mittee to make sure everyone is well informed and excited about District Convention. Because District Convention was such a life-changing experience for me, I will work to the best of my ability to bring you guys a great experience. You will be receiving information about district-wide events frequently, and I hope to see all of you guys soon!

Yours truly in service, Steve Shin

The Kiwanis Family Committee dedicates itself to building bonds and strength-ening the relationship between the Kiwanis Family which is Kiwanis Interna-tional (Adults), Aktion Club (Adults with Disabilities), Circle K International (College Students), Key Club International (High School Students), Builders Club (Middle School Students), and K-Kids (Elementary Students). In other to build and strengthen these bonds it is essential that we participate in all K-Fam-ily meetings, service projects, and social gatherings. We encourage for members to attend the meetings of other Kiwanis Family Clubs and to invite these same clubs to your meetings. Recently the committee has been working on ways to strength the relationship between our Kiwanis Family and events in which we may come together. One of these events is the district wide K-Family Event. It is scheduled for November 23, 2013 and will be at Georgia Tech. As you approach this date you will be receiving more details on this event. As time proceeds you will also be “bombarded” with many resources on building Kiwanis relationships and ideas for joint service projects.. The Major Emphasis Committee focuses on promoting the Key Club International Major Emphasis and District Endorsed Projects, and to raise awareness of each project. The Major Emphasis is “Children: Their Future, Our Focus.” Our International Service Initiative is the Eliminate Project. Our partner organizations are the Children’s Miracle Network, March of Dimes and UNICEF. It takes $1.80 to save a mother and her child’s life. The Committee’s goal is for the Georgia District to raise more money than before for each project. Our District goal for the Eliminate Project this year is to raise $12,500 as a district, $180 for clubs, and $5 for the individual. Through hard work we are more than capable of EXCEEDING this goal and being one step closer to ELIMINATING maternal and neonatal tetanus from this world! As time proceeds you will be receiving more information on the Projects, more fundraising ideas, and other resources to make this year a successful fundraising year for the Georgia District.

Kiwanis Family and Endorsed Projects Chair Reynaldo Del Toro

Director of Special Activities Steve Shin

The Chair of the Policies/Contests Committee for Key Club International’s Georgia District has many responsibilities to ensure that Georgia District’s bylaws match up to those of International, and also to comb through bylaws so as to keep them updated and fully matching the current operating procedures of the District. Duties also include hosting monthly committee meetings in which the committee discusses ways to improve the bylaws, and helping to make the District run as smoothly as possible by implementing Parliamentary Procedures at board meetings.The Chair of the Policies/Contests Committee is also in charge of editing, updat-ing, and clarifying of all contests, awards, and scholarships awarded by the Georgia District. The winners of some contests go on to compete at Key Club International Convention, and it is the job of the Chair of the Policies/Contests Committee to make sure that Georgia District’s contest requirements line up with those of Interna-tional so as to ensure that no entries representing Georgia District are disqualified.The position plays a small, but important part in the success of Georgia District, and is an appointed position rather than an elected one. One may apply to fill this position after District Convention 2014.

Ever felt like you didn’t have what it takes to be a leader? Ever been scares to take the lead? Key Leader is a national program sponsored by Kiwanis International with the objective of building the future leaders of tomorrow. This program takes place in Covington, Georgia and St. Simons Island Georgia. Key Leader is camp based and provides participants the ability to learn skills in the outdoors. Although this is a Kiwanis sponsored event anyone between the ages of 14-18 can attend these camps. You DO NOT have to be a member of the Kiwanis Family to attend. The price for members of Key Club International is $25 and the price for general members is $50. Our next camp will be in St. Simons Island on October 18-20. My experience in Key Leader was phenomenal. I learned many new skills and lessons on how to become a greater leader. This program really opened my eyes and equipped me with many new tools to be a great leader.

Key Leader SLP Chair Uzziel Rodriguez

Policies and Procedures and Contests Chair Logan Allen

The Peachtree Ridge High School Key Club celebrates the end of the school year with awards, chords, and a treat. The party begins as each individual Key Club member is served a bowl of ice cream and gathers for the award ceremony. Each year, the officers of the Peachtree Ridge High School Key Club de-liberate on which distinctive members have made an impact on the club this year out of over a hundred members. Along with the most hours attained, categorized by each grade level, there are also awards for most dedicated, exemplary, and pictures submitted for scrapbook club. The sponsors proudly bestowed the honored students their own original award. Following the award ceremony, the Key Club sponsors and officers presented chords and official Key Club pins to the seniors who met their required hours for the whole year. The seniors who obtained the required hours were 23 out of 25 students. The end of the year celebration ended with gracious goodbyes and contented “see you soon”s. For the following school year, Peachtree Ridge High School hopes to make more experiences, opportunities, and interactions with present students, future students, and the communities.

Here at Washington Wilkes Comprehensive High School, our Key Club participates in many service projects. One of these service projects is our recycling program. We recycle to help our environment and our commu-nity’s chapter of the Kiwanis Club. Our club members pick up recycling from our classrooms and offices every Friday during homeroom, or advisement, in order for it to be picked up. Our school gets really involved in our recycling efforts.Every teacher, or administrator, has a recycling bin set up in their classroom and office. Each student then recycles any item of recyclables in his or her possession into the bin to be collected by our Key Club at the end of the week. Each Friday, a few members go around the school during advisement and gathers up the recycling bags each teacher sits outside their door. While picking up that weeks’ recycling, members also pass out empty recycling bags to teachers for the upcoming week. When the recycling is gathered the bags are sat outside of the school for pick up.To get more students interested in recycling, we often advertise upcoming recycling days. We have an announcement during our school announcements during homeroom, or advisement. Our club also hangs up recycling posters throughout our school. We also are getting our town to recycle. Locat-ed in town, is a recycling bin that is set up so our community can join our school in recycling paper. The mem-bers of our club get together with members of the Kiwanis club and empty the bin to recycle the items inside.

The Key Club of Valdosta High alongside the Eunice family came together this year to grill for James D. Eu-nice. This event took place at Sam’s Club in Valdosta. From early in the morning to late in the afternoon our Key Clubbers were enthusiastic to take part of this wonderful event. The atmosphere of helping, remembrance and service was contagious! Grilling for James is no ordinary fundraiser but one that helps fund the James D. Eunice scholarship. Each year local outstanding students are awarded the scholarship to fulfill their future dreams. James Eunice was a student at Valdosta High in 2010-2011. In late January 2011 of his senior year, he went missing while duck hunting. The news stunned the whole community but without anyone knowing that day the James Eunice legacy being to unfold, one that will forever be remembered. James went missing for 17 days until he was found dead. Although his death was unexpected and tragic, he touched and left a posi-tive impact on everyone who knew him and even those who did not. Those who knew James knew that he was in love with God and tried to be a friend to everyone he met. A lesson that James left behind is to help, love and care for others. Even long after his gone, his ambition to help others is still felt to this very day. It was a true pleasure to help the Eunice family spread the legacy of JDE to everyone but also helping local graduating seniors to accom-plish their dreams. Our Key Clubbers put forth their best efforts into selling hotdogs, hamburgers and combos that day. While at the same time, sharing a smile, the story of JDE or simply friendly service.

When School Is Out, Service Is InHarris County High School

The “Back to School Rush” is a Harris County tradition that aids in the preparation of students, Pre-K through 12th grade, for the upcoming school year, whether through the distribution of free school sup-plies or through the administration of necessary immunizations. It is during this event that students, regardless of their financial need, have access to complimentary school supplies. Additionally, vendor booths play an integral role in ensuring that services crucial to a student’s success and well-being are provided; some of these services include screening for overall health, dispensing immunizations, and qualifying children for affordable insurance programs. On July 25 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., members of the Harris County High School Key Club participated in the Back to School Rush that was held at the Harris County Community Center. Members gave out supplies, served food, and provided assistance to the other organizations that attended the event. In addition to providing volunteer service where needed on the day of the “Rush,” HCHS Key Clubbers collected a variety of school supplies in response to a monthly service project held at the beginning of the chapter year. Donated supplies included but were not limited to pens, pencils, filler paper, crayons, and highlighters. Although school was out, service was in for the HCHS Key Clubbers, and the chapter agrees that its participation in the “Back to School Rush” was both rewarding and humbling.

End of the Year Celebration Peachtree Ridge High School

Grill for James D. EuniceValdosta High School

Let’s recycle... together! WWC High School

SaveTheDate!

Georgia Leadership Training Conference (GLTC)

-Located at Six Flags Over Georgia

-August 24th, 2013

-$35 per person

See You Soon!

District Convention (DCON)

-Located at Sea Palms Resort in Saint Simon’s Island

-February 28th, 2014 - March 2nd, 2014

-$235 per student (estimate)

Georgia District Rally (GDR)

-Located at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon

-January 11th, 2014

-$15 per person (estimate)

Kiwanis Family Day 2013

The Georgia Districts of Kiwanis, Key Club and Circle K are joining together to raise money for The Eliminate Project during Kiwanis Family Day on Saturday, November 23, 2013. Tickets to the Georgia Tech vs. Alabama A&M football game are being sold for $15 each (40% off face value), with $5 from each ticket going to The Eliminate Project. A Kiwanis Family Day tailgate will take place before the game for members, their friends and family to meet each other before heading to the game.

Tickets go on sale and fundraising starts September 1, 2013! All sales will be online – no cash/checks will be accepted.

Fundraise

Promote the event by encouraging people to purchase tickets to the Georgia Tech vs. Alabama A&M game through Ki-wanis Family Day. Tickets cost only $15 (that’s 40% off face value) and include a $5 donation to The Eliminate Project. Your home Kiwanis Club, Key Club or Circle K Club can receive credit for the tickets they sell – just encourage your friends, family and co-workers to enter your club name when they purchase the tickets online!

Participate

Attend the Kiwanis Family Day tailgate before the game to meet other Kiwanis Family members from across the state. The price and exact location of the tailgate is to be determined, but it will take place 2 1/2 hours before kickoff and will be located on campus at Georgia Tech. The tailgate meal will be a fully catered barbecue.

Share

Tell all of your friends, family and co-workers about this incredible opportunity for us to raise money to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. Even if they cannot attend the game, they can make a donation to The Eliminate Project through the online registration form.

Note that the game time for the Georgia Tech vs. Alabama A&M game will be set two weeks prior to the event. The tailgate will start 2 1/2 hours prior to game time. If the game time is at 12 noon, the tailgate meal will be a breakfast/brunch.

Some info. on the Youth Opportunities Fund Organization• YOF is a small organization and is run almost entirely by volunteers. Therefore, more of all donations goes directly to the beneficiaries.• 93 cents of every dollar YOF raise goes directly to the beneficiaries.• Corporate sponsors are able to gain exposure among a large group of active young professionals. •The average age of YOF event participants is 35.• Networking and relationship-building at YOF events can often lead to new connections benefiting both individuals.• YOF volunteers coordinate all aspects of the event(s), leaving the beneficiaries’ staff members free to focus on other tasks/responsibilities.• YOF events provides corporate donors an opportunity to invest in the future workforce of Colorado while building brand awareness and connecting to the urban professional demographic.

March of DimesA preffered charity of Key Club

since 1978

Y.O.F.

Breaking the Groundat Georgia Sherrifs Youth Home

June 1st, 2013 marked a new beginning for the Georgia District of Key Club International. Key Clubbers, Kiwanians and Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes residents and representatives were on hand that day for the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new learning center expansion at the Pineland campus. So far, nearly $80,000 has been raised by Key Clubs throughout the state, which means we’re more than halfway to the goal of $150,000! During the visit Key Clubbers took part in the ceremony and ate lunch with the whole crew. After lunch, we were given the opportunity to tour the living quarters and other parts of the campus. The kids were excited to show us their rooms and of course their game room where they do their exercise and interactions with each other through games like air hockey. It was a great day to get to know the people we are working so hard to help. They showed their sincere appreciation for the things we do and it did nothing but inspire me and everyone in there to finally reach that the remaining $70,000 to finish yet another project to benefit these amazing kids. We can make this year one of the most memorable year in Georgia District history. Let’s all work together to finish this project we’ve started and help these kids have a great future.

-Diane Glover, District Treasuerer

Project Ideas for Children’s Miracle Network

-Key Club members can participate in service projects at their local children’s hospital in the following ways: Stalling for Spare Change: The more money the school raises, the longer class is stalled for that day. So classes will be delayed 1 second for every $.50 raised. If the school raises $1,000, that is 2,000 seconds (33 minutes and 33 seconds).

-Music Lessons for Miracles: Kids thatcan play certain instruments offer to teach other students for a donation to the hospital.

-Fashion Show/Auction: Get clothes donated by students, families, etc. (like prom dresses, or even regular clothes) and have patients from hospitals model them. Another version of this could be a “Men’s Fashion Show.”

-Movies for Miracles: Host a movie night in the gym or on the football field. You can’t require tickets or dona-tions for the movie (copyright laws), however you can ask for donations and/or sell concessions for cash. A school could also do a movie making contest where each entry pays an entrance fee and then attendees are judges

Editor Sign-Off Hey Key Clubbers, It’s me again, Paul Hwang, bringing you the second issue of this year’s Key Ring! I hope that you guys enjoyed reading this release and took in a lot of information that could help your clubs. Now that the school year is starting, things are going to start picking up, meaning that you guys, key clubbers, are going to go back out to serve your communities (not that you have ever stopped)! Be sure to tell me about these, so I can feature you in the next Key Ring.

Remember to keep sending in those articles! There was a nice amount of people that sent in articles this time, but there is always room for more! Please send in anything you want to see in future Key Rings to my editor email! My email is editor@gakeyclub.org and the due dates for articles are September 15th, November 15th, and January 15th.

Yours in service,

Paul HwangDistrict Bulletin Editor

Contact the GA District GBrad Malone

District Administraor

brad.malone@gakeyclub.org

Katie Fuller District Governor

governor@gakeyclub.org

Paul HwangDistrict Bulletin Editor

editor@gakeyclub.org

Georgia LeadershipTraining Conference

Saturday, Aug. 24th, 2013Six Flags Over Georgia

182 Riley Avenue - Suite A Macon, Georgia 31204 | Tel: (678)-753-4-KCI (524) | Fax: (478)-474-3647 | support@gakeyclub.orggakeyclub.org