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By Debra Rothman
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Matt Kamper, a member of both the East Meadow Aktion Club and the Kiwanis Club of East Meadow, had the opportunity to speak at the TLC, Training, and Leadership Conference for Aktion Clubs, which was taking place at the same time as our International Convention in Indianapolis.

Matt is the current president of the East Meadow Aktion Club. Along with his club and their advisers, Marcee Rubenstein and Judy Shiechel, the club put together a project showcasing Lyme Disease. The president of the Kiwanis Club of East Meadow, their sponsoring club, spoke to the Aktion Club members about Lyme Disease. I asked Matt to tell me about his experience so that I could share it with the New York District. Here is his thoughts about the convention.

Recently, I attended the fourth annual Aktion Club TLC Conference along with other members of the K-Family. The conference started with the Kiwanis Opening Session where all attendees were invited to attend. There was a guy by the name of Tim, who was the keynote speaker. Tim owns a restaurant. What is unique about Tim is that he has down syndrome. When Tim spoke, he really got everyone at the convention center very excited about his speech.

Throughout the weekend, everyone couldn't stop talking about his speech. He said that even if you have a disability, you should go out there and live your dream. During the Aktion Club TLC Conference, we had different workshops such as service project ideas and fitness.

There was also a keynote speaker by the main character in the movie "Where Hope Grows" and we were able to see the film. The movie was amazing and I hope that all Aktion Club members can see the movie when it comes to DVD or Blu-Ray. I learned from that movie that you should always be friendly to everyone, even if you don't like something that they did.

There were also presentations that were given by Aktion Clubs about a service project that their club did. I also did a presentation on our poster board that we made for KPLD (Kiwanis Pediatric Lyme Disease).

At the closing session of TLC, Dr. John Button, who is the President of Kiwanis International came to give out awards and pins to everyone who made a presentation. Right after that, the Aktion Club was invited to the closing session for the Kiwanis International Convention.

I am hoping to go to another Aktion Club TLC and I encourage other Aktion Club members around New York State to attend an Aktion Club TLC. You will have a lot of fun and learn a lot of new things.


Column Posted on Web Site July 15, 2015

 
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