District Foundation

Happy New Year to all. I sincerely hope that all your New Year's resolutions come to fruition and that 2012 will be a prosperous and healthy year for all.
As you probably know, December was an unusually hectic month for us at the New York District Foundation. My wife Carole and I along with Rebecca Lopez were very busy trying to get as many people as we could to vote for Kamp Kiwanis for the Chase Community Giving. Carole and Rebecca spent 90 percent of their day online asking and begging Kiwanians, Key Clubbers, Circle K'ers and just about anyone else to go on Facebook and vote, and it paid off. We wound up finishing in 15th place on the voting and were able to secure a $25,000 grant. I want to personally thank all of the Kiwanians who responded to our plea to vote.Thank you for taking the time to make this grant possible.
I want to also tell you about our upcoming "Night With The Islanders" fund raiser, thanks to the efforts of Kim Scharoff and David Rothman. On March 10, 2012, we will be hosting a night at the Nassau Coliseum where it will be Kamp Kiwanis Night. The nice people at the Coliseum will be helping raise funds with ticket sales and a 50/50 raffle, and you'll also be treated to a great hockey game between the N.Y. Islanders and the N.J. Devils, it will be a really fun night and a great help to Kamp Kiwanis. Tickets are available at a discount and we are looking to fill the place with Kiwanians. A flyer will be going out soon to everybody, but if you want more information on this, call Kim or Dave.
Looking forward to the 2012 season, Rebecca is preparing to make her annual trip for securing counselors, getting the applications ready to be sent out and getting the camp ready for opening day on May 5, 2012. As always I ask for your help for that weekend. There's always a great deal of work that needs to get done in preparing the Kamp for the season. As I stated before, we need people to come up and work at the Kamp. Get a couple of your fellow Kiwanians and make a weekend of it. If you need information on nearby lodging, call Rebecca and she will be able to help you, but please try to come up and help us. As always, opening day we have dedications to Kiwanians that have gone above and beyond in helping Kamp Kiwanis, this year, among other dedication, we will be dedicating the new "Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge Kiwanis Arts & Crafts Building", thanks to the great Kiwanians in my home club we were able to build this much needed building that will allow more children to enjoy the Kamp.
Our Mid-Year conference is less than a month away and as you know we will have our annual Kamp shower. Our wish list will be published shortly so please look at it, if there's anything on that list that you can help us with, please bring it to the Kamp shower room at Mid-Year.
We had a great year in 2011 and I know with your help we will be able to have an even better year in 2012. Governor Bill has committed once again to the Military Kids program, which last year served over 120 children of active military personnel, and I know that Governor Bill can do better. I ask that you make a commitment for the "One More Kamper" program, send us one more Kamper than you did last year. That will go a long way to an even better year than last. We need to fill the Kamp. The more Kampers we get, the more lives we can change for the better.
Remember there are many other ways for you to help your Kamp: honor someone with a Kaiser, memorialize them on a brick, or a bench, sponsor a cabin, purchase an acre, and many more ways that you can help us help the children of the New York District.
Thank for all your support in the past and for the future.

Column Posted on Web Site February 3, 2012