Service

Our top priority is being active in our community. Therefore, we have engaged in countless community service projects including:

• Meals on Heels
• The Bowery Mission
• Friends of the Rockaways
• Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Center
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Light the Night Walk
• New York Foundling Hospital May Day Party
• AIDS Walk in New York City
• Salvation Army Bell Ringing
• New York Restoration Project
• City Harvest’s local food drives
• Children’s Holiday Party
• Baby Buggy

Below is a breakdown of projects that we normally do at a regular or annual basis. They are both fun and an important way to make a difference here in New York City. Feel free to click and browse and them to learn more about these projects.

We focus less on personal financial contribution and more on our time. We don’t ask, “What can we give?” we ask, “How can we give back?” Our club gets hands-on and engages with our sponsored youth clubs. We regularly bring our high school and college students to our service projects as a way to really get engaged and have a bigger impact.

Key to Your Future

Every year in the fall season, our club hosts a “Key To Your Future Day” for local New York City high school students who are Key Clubbers. The event is a combination of presentations, workshops, and one-on-one discussions among the Kiwanis members and Key Clubbers from the region. Though the Sponsored Youth Committee plans the event, almost every member of the club participates in at least one of the workshops and discussions at the event.

Our annual symposium for approximately 50 Key Clubbers will discuss preparation for college and the working environment. By facilitating a full-day of workshops and presentations on topics ranging from time management skills to preparing for college to business etiquette, we aim to provide our sponsored high school students with a leg-up on information and skills needed to succeed at the next level. All of our members, regardless of college attended or career chosen, has important information to share with our Key Clubbers.

To learn more about Key To Your Future Day, read  Kevin Dean’s newsletter article on the eventhere.

Meals on Heels

The Carter Burden Center – Hans Jus Church (Ground Floor)
351 East 74th Street (Between 1st & 2nd Avenues), New York, NY

Kiwanis joins up with the Citymeals-on-Wheels organization to deliver meals to homebound seniors as part of our self-dubbed monthly Meals on Heels program. The meal delivery project allows members to spend some time getting to know the homebound seniors as well as getting to know each other. From freezing temperatures in December and January to sizzling temperatures in June and July, our members have always loved going to this service project. At the end of the deliveries, there is a real sense of accomplishment in terms of community service and working out our feet!

Bowery Mission Soup Kitchen

227 Bowery, New York, NY 10002

The Bowery Mission, established in 1879, serves New York City to men, women, and children caught in the cycles of poverty. Last year, the Bowery Mission provided homeless men and women with more than 362,500 meals, 78,500 nights of shelter and 50,000 articles of clothing, as well as showers, haircuts, and 550 professional doctor’s appointments.

For the past several years, New York City Young Professional Kiwanis assisted with the Bowery Mission by serving food to homeless men and women at this crucial and well-known community soup kitchen. From catered hot meals, pizza, to soup, our volunteers directly serve a dinner one weeknight a month. Join us and see first hand the appreciation and difference you make in other people’s lives.  For more information about the Bowery Mission, visit: http://bowery.org/

Soldier’s Angels

Soldiers’ Angels is a non-profit organization providing aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and their families. Founded by the mother of two American soldiers, they are an international, volunteer-led organization supporting America’s men and women in uniform. To date, Soldiers’ Angels have sent hundreds of thousands of care packages and letters to deployed service members.

New York City Young Professionals Kiwanis teamed up with Soldiers’ Angels and adopted it’s first soldier in March 2009. Through the Adopt-a-Soldier program we sent weekly letters and one care package each month throughout the duration of the soldier’s tour in Iraq. As of September 2009, we are happy to announce that our adopted soldier successfully completed her duties oversees and made her safe return home.

Following the success of our first adoption, NYCYP Kiwanis adopted our second soldier in October 2009. We continue to collect letters and care package items at our monthly club meetings. Each package is assembled with donated candy, snacks, toiletries, etc to help our adopted soldier overseas and send a message of gratitude.

New York Blood Center

CitiGroup Center 53rd Street & Lexington Avenue – Lower Level, New York, NY

NYCYP Kiwanians regularly participate in the New York Blood Center (NYBC) drives. The NYBC is one of the largest community-based, non-profit blood collection and distribution organizations in the United States, providing nearly one million blood components to about 200 hospitals throughout New York City, New Jersey, Hudson Valley, Long Island and parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

You can donate blood or platelets to make an immediate, life-saving difference for others. Upon arriving at the blood center, you will fill out a registration form and take a brief test to verify that you meet the requirements to donate. You will then be escorted to a donation bed where skilled technicians will help you thru the donation process. A standard whole blood donation is about one pint of blood and typically takes 10 to 12 minutes. Upon completion, you will be escorted to a refreshment area for snacks and rest before being ready to leave.

Come join us on select dates at the CitiGroup Center location to participate as a group, or feel free to donate on your own at any time at any of the New York Blood Center locations. Go to the NY Blood Center’s official website at www.nybloodcenter.org for further information.