Official Newsletter of the Capital District of CKI
VOLUME 52 ISSUE 4 December 2013
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Table of Contents Gubernatorial Greetings……………...3 Happy Holidays from the D-Board….4-9 Kiwanis Family Holiday Greetings…10-11 Greetings from International…….…...12 DLSSP…....……………………………......13 ELIMINATE SPOTLIGHT….......................14 Capital News………………………....15-16 JMU CKI………………………………...17-18
Networking Corner……………………...19 DCON Promotional Page………….......20
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Happy Holidays from the Governor! Hey everyone! I hope that this message finds everyone well and not stressing too much about finals! For this edition of the Capital Courier I have been asked to reflect upon my favorite CKI Holiday moment. As I'm sure is the case with many of you, I'm often at home for the holidays. That said, over the years I have been blessed to be able to attend a variety of holiday-themed CKI events: events which often precede the actual holiday by a few days. As a district, we are known to hold events like UVA CKI's Breakfast with Santa, Easter Egg hunts, Thanksgiving Dinners, Halloween parties, and a lot of holiday-themed socials! While I would have loved to attend all of these, there is one event that I have attended the last two years that I have enjoyed immensely: VCU CKI's Thanksgiving Dinner. Given where I am in the district, VCU is only about an hour away. Last year, I was able to attend their event while heading back from our district board meeting. This year, I was able to go with some of my home club members, which made the entire experience that much more enjoyable! VCU did an awesome job! Not only was there great food, but they used the entire night's program to emphasize the fellowship aspect of our organization and to reflect upon all that we are thankful for. Overall, it was an event that brought together CKI members from across the district (5 clubs in total I believe), who shared a meal and a time where we all expressed what we were thankful for. As an organization, I think that it's important that we remember what we are thankful for all year long, because it reminds us just how much we have and why we serve others who are less fortunate. I wish everyone the best of luck on their exams and I hope that everyone gets to enjoy spending time with their loved ones afterwards!
Ben at VCU CKI Thanksgiving Banquet! Any questions? Email Governor Durham: governor@cdcki.org
Happy holidays, In service,
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE D-BOARD!
District Editor Sancho Jacinto It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas songs playing, the temperature falling, children playing, jolly carols singing, Holiday season is here! I wish the Capital District a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hannukah, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy birthday (to birthday celebrants), and everything else! Happy Holidays to all! Growing up in the Philippines, the Holiday season is the best time of the year due to the traditions, Christmas lights, great ambience, and just over-all magnificence. I had to adjust when I moved to United States due to the different culture but I love the fact that the Holiday season is amazing here as well! For CKI, my favorite Holiday service project is the Mt. Vernon Kiwanis Christmas Tree Sales. We help our sponsoring club, Mt. Vernon Kiwanis, every year in unloading Christmas trees then selling them. Since joining CKI in 2011, this is an annual service project I always look forward to since I get to meet K-Kids, Key Clubbers, and Kiwanians as we all work together in running this Holiday business our sponsoring club has. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to thank our Kiwanis club for all the support it gives to my home club, NVCC-Alexandria. The proceeds of the sales also go to charity which is great! A portion of the financial support from our club also comes from these sales so a successful selling season is very significant. After working with the Kiwanians, we also get to have free coffee, hot chocolate and doughnuts which is great! After we drop by helping them, our club would normally go out to do something since we finish around noon time. I want to thank everyone for reading the Capital Courier! I wish that I’m able to contribute well as your District Editor. Happy Holidays everyone and good luck with your finals!
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HAPPY FROM THE D-BOARD! HEADERHOLIDAYS HERE . HEADER HERE . HEADER Foothills LTG Matthew Johnson This is only my second year (third semester) in Circle K, so I haven't had time to start many traditions yet. However, I'll always remember volunteering at the Blacksburg Christmas Parade these past two years. It has been an amazing opportunity, and I directed the fire trucks both years with two of my best friends from Circle K. The tradition dies this year with both of them graduating, but it was a great last hurrah. I don't know what I'll do without them. We'll always have our times taking a Transformers photo or stalking Santa to keep him from wandering away or getting drenched in the rain at the very end or getting hypothermia after hours in the cold or yelling at people who drive over the sidewalk or watching Santa hug Chelsea. We'll always have the memories, so I thank Circle K for this opportunity for service, leadership, and, of course, fellowship. I hope that everyone in the Foothills Division and the Capital District has a great holiday and a fantastic break. I look forward to continuing our efforts in the new semester. Happy Holidays!
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE D-BOARD!
Battlefield LTG Mandi Feinberg Happy Holidays Capital! This is the season to give thanks and to spend time with family and friends! I am so thankful for my experience with CKI! One of my favorite memories from the holiday season has to do with the holiday party we throw for a local elementary school for underprivileged kids. We get the kids together for some holiday activities including playing dreidel, making snowflakes, playing pin the nose on Rudolph, and of course some holiday goodies! Their favorite part is Santa! VCU was lucky enough to buy Mr. Stankus, the Key Club Capital District Administrator, who actually looks like Santa, so we had him at the party! Santa talked to the kids and gave them all a small gift. Every year we do this their faces just light up and you know that you made a little kid’s holiday that much better! They are the sweetest kids so it is amazing to be able to do this for them! So here is wishing you all good luck with finals and final projects and a safe break! Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, or winter—Happy Holidays!!
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HAPPY HERE HOLIDAYS FROM D-BOARD! HEADER . HEADER HERETHE . HEADER Potomac LTG Rachel Villarroel My favorite CKI Holiday moment was probably when my club hosted a project “Hug A Bear�. We had people from campus claim 30 bears that they would decorate as best they could similar to Build-a-Bear. Then we hosted a bake sale and anyone who bought something would get to vote for their favorite bear. Those who had the most votes won a prize such as a gift certificate to Olive Garden. People who attended our bake sale also had the opportunity to make activities sheets, like crossword puzzles and word searches, which were attached to the bear at a later time. We donated the 30 bears to the Pediatric Unit at the Sentara Potomac Hospital in Woodbridge, VA just before the Holiday season began. This was probably my favorite CKI holiday service project because all of my members contributed to the success of the project, from making posters and flyers to making goodies for the bake sale. NVCC Alexandria also showed their support! Overall this project in my opinion had all the tenants of CKI: Service, Fellowship and Leadership and a dash of Holiday Cheer!!
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE D-BOARD!
NoVA LTG Kelly Griffith One of my favorite holiday events (actually one of my favorite events in general) is writing letters for Macy's Believe program. Macy's asks people to write letters to Santa. For each letter that is written and dropped in one of their mailboxes in store, Macy's donates $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They will donate up to $1,000,000 to Make-A-Wish Foundation. Every year, University of Mary Washington participates in this program. We dedicate a service meeting to writing letters. This is our most fun service meeting of the semester, and a lot of members look forward to it every year. Also, we normally write letters for this program at UMW’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Not only is writing letters to Santa fun, but this event brings members closer together. Writing letters to Santa brings out the kid in all of us. By the end of the meeting, we are all laughing and reading each other’s silly letter to Santa. After we have written the letters, we typically send about 40 letters to Macy’s to be dropped off in the mailbox. If you have not heard of this program, I would suggest looking it up and participating in it this year. It is a great event to bring members together and support a great cause. Happy holidays, Capital District!
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HAPPY FROM THE D-BOARD! HEADERHOLIDAYS HERE . HEADER HERE . HEADER Presidential LTG Caitlin Francis Happy Holidays Capital Crabs! For this edition of the Capital Courier, I have two favorite CKI holiday moments I want to share. One happened recently, at UVA’s Breakfast with Santa event. I had the amazing opportunity to help out at the annual event this year in Charlottesville, VA. I ran the Lollipop Tree game and got to interact with a lot of kids from the local community. I saw them smiling and enjoying the experience, and I smiled right along with them as they cheered when Santa finally arrived. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season, and I loved getting to work with Key Clubbers, CKI-ers, and Kiwanians to make a positive impact in a lot of lives that day.
My second favorite moment is an event I have participated in for at least three years. Every year, JMU CKI has a White Elephant gift exchange, which is always a lot of fun and provides great humor. This year, though, we decided to do a Secret Santa gift exchange instead. It gave members an opportunity to get to know another member, at least well enough to get them a thoughtful gift. I received a beautiful hand painted purple and gold picture frame with CKI on it, which I love. It was so much fun to see everyone opening their presents and hugging other members in gratitude, and it made for a really fun way for members to interact with other members in our club. It seemed like everyone really enjoyed the event, and it definitely reminded me how much I love CKI. Wishing you well this holiday season!
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM KIWANIS! Kiwanis Governor Scott Zimmerman Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse… These are the words of one of my favorite poems for the Christmas/ Holiday season. I grew up in a time when Christmas was a magical season where children still believed in Santa Claus and imagined that Rudolf and the rest of his reindeer friends would fly through the sky and deliver toys and treats to the children of the world. “On Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen; Comet and Cupid and Donner and Vixen.” My family was not rich but my parents made every effort to make Christmas a special time for all six of us…no easy feat in tough financial times…but when a family is full of love and caring the memories stay with us forever. My family always shared our bounty of homemade cookies and cocoa with marshmallows with every friend that we could find to bring home with us. The Zimmerman household was full of hugs and open arms and lots of friends from all walks of life. I remember one year in particular when my dad had been sick and money was in very short supply my brothers went out on Christmas Eve and came back with a beautiful tree to decorate our home at the last minute…a tree to share with everyone when no one thought that we could afford to have a tree at all. Many years later we found out that my young brothers had not gone out to the woods to cut this beautiful tree but had actually gone to the municipal building in the county we lived in and cut a tree down from the front yard … oh my goodness… the family was shocked! But over time we have learned to laugh about that Christmas and the challenges that we faced. We have learned that many people do not have the resources to celebrate Christmas or Chanukah or Kwanza or any of the seasonal observances in the way that the storybooks tell the story. More importantly, we have learned that we can help others who are less fortunate at this special time of the year. My family cares about others and is willing to make their lives better … You are my family too. You are all a part of the Kiwanis Family. The Kiwanis Family takes our time and treasure and shares it with others to make the world a better place. Thank you for all that you do every day. May your holiday be merry and bright… help others and make the world right. Live to Serve and Love to Serve.
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HAPPYHERE HOLIDAYS FROM CLUB! HEADER . HEADER HERE KEY . HEADER Key Club Governor Garrett Fraino Happy Holidays Circle K! I hope that you have been doing well these past few months! For the Capital District of Key Club, we have been busy raising funds for Trick or Treat for Unicef as well as the ELIMINATE Project. At our last Board Meeting a few weeks ago, we got the results of how much money the Key Club Capital District raised in funds for the ELIMINATE Project. I am proud to report that last Kiwanis year, we raised a little over $66,800 towards the ELIMINATE Project, meaning that we helped to vaccinate/save over 37,000 mothers and children! We were all very happy to hear such great news! We also learned that six of our Key Clubs made the Top 28 list for the most amount of money donated towards eliminating MNT. The Harrisonburg Key Club alone raised $7,000, the second largest amount given by any club in Key Club International!
I would also like to say that so far during the ELIMINATE Campaign; Key Club alone has already donated over $2 million! So, the SLP Programs are working very hard and are helping out as much as they can to eliminate MNT. So far, many of the clubs in the Capital District have been working to raise money for the ELIMINATE Project. Many clubs this year participated in Trick or Treat for Unicef as well, and most of these clubs that participated raised several hundred dollars! Every day, the Key Club Capital district gets closer to reaching its goal of $68,000 this year. With all of the devotion and determination of clubs and members, I am sure that we will make our goal! For our Holiday Service Initiative, my home club decided to help out with Operation Christmas Child. We put together sixteen boxes full of toys, coloring books, and other fun gifts for boys and girls ages 416. We sent these boxes overseas to Africa, Asia, and South America. We are happy to know that even the smallest of gifts make the biggest difference to kids around the world.
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM INTERNATIONAL!
CKI Vice President Amelia Ahnert As CKI members, we embody the holiday spirit of giving back all year round! This time of year just provides us each with a little more inspiration and endless opportunities to give back to those less fortunate. One of my favorite service events is Santa to a Senior. This is a program that provides gifts to over 500 senior citizens in my local community that would otherwise not receive anything for Christmas. Over the years in CKI, I’ve had the opportunity to volunteer in different parts of this project, including organizing the donated items and wrapping them. Wrapping is by far my favorite part, but not because we get to eat Christmas cookies and drink hot chocolate. Santa to a Senior’s gift wrapping day takes place in my school’s student center, which allows any student to join in the fun. This project spreads a little holiday cheer to all those involved and provides a break from the craziness of finals.
DCON IS COMING! PRINT OUT THE LAST PAGE TO SHARE AT YOUR MEETINGS FOR DCON PROMOTIONS! Registration Link: https://fs6.formsite.com/CapitalCKI/DCON2014/ secure_index.html
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DLSSP UPDATE HEADER HERE . HEADER HERE . HEADER Service Chair Janelle Hope On November 9th, Capital District CKI’ers came out to Washington, DC for the District Large Scale Service Project (DLSSP), the Senior Prom at Sarah’s Circle. There was food, music, and games for students and seniors to enjoy. Some of the seniors taught the students how to master their salsa dancing techniques and the students taught the seniors how to do the Wobble and the Cupid Shuffle. There was even a photo booth with props and decorations many of the seniors enjoyed. Everyone truly enjoyed their time and will be sure to continue the connection between Circle K and Sarah’s Circle.
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ELIMINATE SPOTLIGHT
NVCC-Alexandria CKI Bake Sale By Mehreen Khan, NVCC-Alexandria CKI President This is Mehreen Khan. I am the president of Circle K International, NOVA Alexandria. I am blessed to be a part of Circle K International because of the fact it actually help us to connect to the society and help people all across the world. Our club recently held a “Bake Sale” for Eliminate project. The Project aims to eliminate maternal/neonatal tetanus from the face of the world. Our club held a bake sale to raise funds to help eliminate tetanus which kills one baby every nine minutes. These funds are targeted to go to the poorest, most underserved women and children in the world. Our club members were generous enough to bring baked goods from their homes for the sale. I would like to appreciate “Torrence Delawie” for her great help in this fundraiser. We were lucky to raise over 50 dollars in a short time. We are at least satisfied that this fundraiser might have helped many families to get tetanus vaccination for their kids. In future, we plan to do the fundraisers like this again. Because hand-in-hand, we can change the world for better.
$5,400 District Goal: For the Capital District of CKI to raise $5,400 for the Kiwanis ELIMINATE Project, saving the lives of 7,000 mothers as well as their future babies, through district events and club donations by March 31, 2014.
Current District Total: $5098.00 94% of our goal! 14
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Capital News CNU CKI Operation Christmas Child By Sarah Rowland, CNU CKI This year we at Christopher Newport University’s CKI celebrated our 2nd annual Operation Christmas Child service/social project. We packed shoe boxes with toiletries, toys, and candy that are be donated to children in third world countries through Samaritan’s Purse. We ordered party packs through Samaritan’s Purse that included balloons, check lists, and letters we can write to the children. The letters allow us to tell the children a little about us and give them the opportunity to write back to us. This year we were fortunate enough to make this an interclub event by inviting William and Mary’s CKI and our local Kiwanis clubs. We were very excited that some of the girls from William and Mary were able to attend. We played Christmas music and games, like Christmas charades, while we packed and wrapped boxes. This year we were able to pack twentytwo boxes! This event is a club member and officer favorite and we cannot wait to partake in this event again next year!
William and Mary CKI William and Mary CKI Update By John Nguyen, William and Mary CKI The William and Mary CKI club had a productive November. We held our fall induction ceremony on the 12th. Many CKI members and members of Kiwanis attended to show their support and welcome the seventeen new members inducted into the William and Mary branch of Circle K International. Nathan Hill of Kiwanis gave a speech about the importance of service to the community. At CKI, we’re part of a cycle of student leaders inspiring successive generations of members to step up and be the change we want to see in the world. Our service projects and events during the month of November have often involved cooperating with the broader Kiwanis Family. Our club worked with local Kiwanis and Key Clubs on a Head Start event where fathers were invited to come and spend time reading and having fun with their children. We also joined with the CKI members of Christopher Newport University to participate in their Operation Christmas Child event, which sends shoeboxes filled with gifts to children in need each year. It was also a rewarding fellowship experience to connect with the CKI members of CNU. In addition to our interclub events, we as a club also went to volunteer at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which sells donated furniture to fund the building of new homes. We worked to sweep and mop their entire store and were rewarded with awesome T-shirts and pizza. Our fundraisers, such as a raking fundraiser, as well as our volunteer work at a school event, Spooktakular, raised money for the ELIMINATE project.
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Capital News Hood College
NEW CLUB
By Maiella Brown, Hood College CKI We have just re-opened the CKI club here at Hood College. We have had one meeting so far and will be hosting an event for Veterans by making cards for those who have served. This event will start after Thanksgiving break. Other projects that we have planned include raising money for March of Dimes and UNICEF. Fundraisers that we plan on doing include Vaccinate a Village and raising funds through different restaurants here in Frederick. These funds will go toward our club in order to help us raise the membership in our club. Since our club has just started up we have a lot planned and are excited to get the ball rolling! My personal moment in CKI: I was very excited to see that there was a collegiate level of the Key Club that I was a part of in high school. This then made me more excited about starting college and I was able to better adapt to the changes to come.
Anne Arundel Community College By Julia Shah, Anne Arundel Community College
A club member and I helped with the Kiwanis Crofton Halloween Parade; the costumes were absolutely adorable and creative. I am glad we went to the parade. The Crop walk was a great success, Circle K fundraised $428 for the cause! The club is finishing up our collections for UNICEF. Something new we did this year was a food drive for the Anne Arundel County Food Bank and Resources which ended on December 5th. Our food drive filled 5 boxes worth of food donations. Just in time for the holidays! Over winter break we plan to attend some volunteer programs at Sunrise nursing home in Severna Park, Maryland and volunteer for the Operation Welcome Home Maryland at BWI airport. At the moment we plan to visit Johns Hopkins’ children’s hospital center and have a kickball tournament for the Eliminate Project during the spring semester! We hope to be able to go to DCON in February and continue doing more service in the spring semester! Circle K of Shenandoah University By Helen Zebarth, Advisor The Circle K of Shenandoah University participated in the Kiwanis Pancake Day with 26 participants of which 5 were members and the other was baseball players the president, Dan, recruited. They took care of the take-out orders and prepared 1,425 meals to be taken out. Also two members assisted Daniel Morgan Middle School Builder's Club with projects to help the needy in our community.
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CKIHERE . HEADER HEADER HEREJMU . HEADER Induction Ceremony By Emily Benusa This was uncharted territory. Because the semester flew by so fast, we almost missed a crucial part of our club: membership appreciation and recognition! These college students have taken time out of their busy schedule to join a club and service their new community. They deserve to be recognized and know that we appreciate them joining us!! Saturday, October 26th we held our very first annual membership inductions. With pumpkins, pine cones paper leaves in place, we were ready to welcome our members. Members, parents, friends, and even Kiwanians showed up with big smiles and food to share. Heather Howell, our executive VP, had some great opening remarks reminding us all about our motto, “Live to serve, love to serve.� She then turned it over to Christine to introduce our honored guests and Kiwanians. Dennis Baugh, the Kiwanis LTG, was our keynote speaker and shared some insight with us about continuing our Kiwanis lifestyle and investing in the Eliminate fund. Becca and Carly, our service VP and secretary, shared some of the activities that we have been participating in this year. After all that, we got the amazing chance to induct all of our present members. With certificates, CKI pins, and T-shirt pins, they all promised to honor and uphold the objectives of CKI International.
ZUMBATHON By Laura Blades What better way is there to help mothers and their babies than by hosting a Zumbathon? On a cold, Saturday evening (October 12th to be exact), several ladies and gentlemen moved their bodies to help ELIMINATE maternal neonatal tetanus. For two straight hours we danced to fun-filled Zumba routines led by our very own club secretary, Carly Starke! As an organization, we bonded, burned calories, and benefited mothers and their future children. For not being an avid exerciser, two hours seemed like a long time for me to be working out, but Carly kept everyone on their feet and moving for a good cause.
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JMU CKI Pumpkin Patch Social By Kelsie Whalen
October’s social was at a pumpkin patch! We drove over to Back Home on the Farm on Sunday, October 13th. We arrived at approximately 11:00AM only to find out it didn’t open until later that afternoon. After sitting in the parking lot for a little while deciding what to do, one of the owners came out and said we could come in. We got our own personal tractor ride and didn’t have any wait to buy pumpkins! Everyone picked out one or two perfect pumpkins to bring home and decorate at the meeting on Monday.
Secret Santa Social By Allison Keye The Circle K gift exchange social was a really jolly time! We ordered med to love what they got. I got a pink Santa hat, some cupcake recipes, a spatula, and fuzzy socks from the wonderful Caitlin. After the fun gift exchange, members were able to catch up with one another, knit scarves, or does a service project wrapping coins for Eliminate. It was fun to celebrate the holidays together, plus it was during Chanukah!
Spotswood Elementary Literacy Night By Kenneth Gordon On Tuesday, November 12th, JMU Circle K members and I traveled to Spotswood Elementary School to participate in their Literacy Night. At this event, which other volunteers from across the Harrisonburg area also participated in, we were assigned to help in the gymnasium. There, we were in charge of leading fun games for the students to play while their parents discussed important issues with the teachers regarding increasing literacy, academics, and test scores for the school. The games included balloon volleyball, relay races, and arts and crafts. I thought these games were really effective for the kids, whose ages ranged from Kindergarten to 5th grade, because it helped to teach them to respect one another, play fairly and nicely, and work together in a group to try to win the game (even though in the end, everyone was a winner!). I really enjoyed working with the kids, and it was definitely a fun and engaging study break!
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NETWORKING CORNER HEADER HERE . HEADER HERE . HEADER CKI Helpful Links
CKI Website: http://www.circlek.org/ CDCKI Website: http://cdcki.org/ Kiwanis Website: http://www.kiwanis.org/ and http://www.kiwanis.org/kiwanisone Key Club Website: http://www.keyclub.org/home.aspx CKI Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/circlekintnl CDCKI Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CDCKI CDCKI Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/135545313295947/ Capital District Kiwanis Family Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/231997570289147/ CKI Service Committee Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ CKIServiceCommittee CKI International Expansion Committee Facebook Page: https:// www.facebook.com/IXC.CKI CKI Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/circlekintnl CDCKI Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/CDCKI
Contact the 2013-2014 District Board Governor Ben Durham Governor@cdcki.org
NoVa LTG Kelly Griffith Nova-ltg@cdcki.org
Secretary-Treasurer Ben Romano Sec-treas@cdcki.org
Acting Potomac LTG Rachel Villarroel Potomac-ltg@cdcki.org
Editor SanchoJacinto Editor@cdcki.org
Presidential LTG Caitlin Francis Presidential-ltg@cdcki.org
Acting Battlefield LTG Mandi Feinberg Battlefield-ltg@cdcki.org
Acting Tidewater Tippy Tongvichit Tidewater-ltg@cdcki.org
Del-Mar LTG Richard Gallo Delmar-ltg@cdcki.org
District Administrator Jennifer Wolff Administrator@cdcki.org
Foothills LTG Matthew Johnson Foothills-ltg@cdcki.org
Assistant District Administrator Derek Dupuis Asst-administrator@cdcki.org
Metro-Richmond LTG (VACANT) Metrorichmond-ltg@cdcki.org
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