District Foundation

Once again another great Kamping season at Kamp Kiwanis comes to a close and once again we reflect on the past year and look forward to next year.

This year's Kamping season was indeed one of our better years; we were able to serve the needs of 620 needy children, approximately 40 more than last year.

A great deal of the reason for that was the initiative that Governor Forbes Irvine provided for all New York District Kiwanians to "Take Care of Our Own" and it worked. Gov. Forbes asked that we all look to help our own foundations right here in New York District and it worked for all of our foundations who are here to serve the children. Thank you Gov. Forbes.

Now we look towards next year, and due to the success of the past year, our new New York District Governor, Stephen Sirgiovanni has agreed to continue many of the programs from last year including the "Take Care of Your Own". We are looking forward to Gov. Steve's year and we hope to serve more children next year.

Our Kamp is looking better than ever. We replaced the Drama Hall roof with a new, long-lasting metal one. As we speak Herb Chan is renovating the two bathrooms in the administration building. Kyle Hoffman, a most generous Kiwanian from the Metropolitan Division, has started replacing the heating system in the administration building and the infirmary; all labor and material is being donated by Kyle and we can’t thank him enough.

We have just signed contract with a local contractor to replace the roof on the administration building because it doesn't look like it will make through another Taberg winter. I'm sure that come next spring there will be many more unexpected expenses that will come up. This is what the Kamp is, it is a constant upkeep and improvement and thanks to all of the Kiwanians that donate in so many ways, we are able to continue to serve and change the lives of children for the better.

Our thanks go out to all the Kiwanians and friends who heeded the call this past August for the 31 kids left for sponsorships. Thanks to you, all 31 kids were able to attend Kamp and once again we can say that no child was left out. I want to especially thank the 2015-16 New York District Board of lieutenant governors for taking care of 10 of those kids, you put us over the top.

As fall and winter comes in, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone happy holidays and have a great remainder of 2016. We'll talk next year.

Column Posted on Web Site October 22, 2016