California-Nevada-Hawaii Presents
Circle K International vs. Kiwanis International Have you just graduated college and CKI intent on continuing to give back to your community? Maybe you’ve been out of the game for some time, but something motivated you to want to help out wherever you can again. Joining Kiwanis International is the logical choice; a return to the Kiwanis Family and the main branch for professional adults. It may seem overwhelming, however, joining a new club all over again. Especially since this time, the club is made up of many individuals who have been members for a decade or more instead of the typical 4 years of Circle K. It can also be intimidating being the newcomer fresh out of college to a club with established doctors, lawyers and business owners. Luckily for you, joining Kiwanis will be as simple as joining Circle K! In this guide, you’ll hopefully find tips and hints to prove it. Although the branches of Kiwanis are similar, there are differences between them. Just like how Circle K was different from Key Club, Kiwanis is a bit different from Circle K. A major difference of Kiwanis is the pace of the club. Often CKI is very fast paced with many opportunities and obligations, whereas Kiwanis clubs can go at a much slower pace. For example, CKI has weekly projects and then at least one project a weekend. With careers and families, however, most Kiwanians need to space out their commitments so they have events less often such as two meetings and one project a month. Of course, Kiwanis clubs are always open to new ideas for projects so one project a month is definitely not set in stone. Also, one of the common obstacles you faced in Key Club and Circle K were restrictions and regulations on what you were allowed to do. You had to also ask for permission whenever you wanted to have events with other clubs and for many other events. In Kiwanis, most of these restrictions are lifted and you are able to attend Kiwanis Family events without acquiring permission from anybody. For more information about Kiwanis International: http://www.kiwanisone.org/ http://sites.kiwanis.org/kiwanis/en/home.aspx
2|Transition Guide
Young Professionals
Young Professionals are a section of Kiwanis that most new graduates end up joining. They were created as a transition from Circle K to Kiwanis; a club primarily consisting of young adults who are just entering the professional world. Three types of Young Professionals exist: standalone clubs, satellite clubs and subcommittees. Standalone clubs include Orange County YP, Las Vegas YP and California YP. These clubs are their own entities and work separately from Kiwanis clubs. Satellite clubs like San Diego YP can have a different membership criteria and dues structure, but rely on a host Kiwanis club. Subcommittees like Inland Empire YP are officially a part of their Kiwanis club, (in this case the Kiwanis Club of Riverside) but work in similar fashion as satellite clubs. For more information on satellite clubs: http://community.kiwanisone.org/media/p/15224.aspx If you have more questions, feel free to contact a Young Professionals club for more information. Contacts: Orange County Young Professionals ocypkiwanis@gmail.com Peter Yu: petercyu@gmail.com; 714-793-8536 Vyvy Doa: Vice President of Networking; ocypvpnetworking@ hotmail.com; 714-872-0423 Jason Wang: President; 714-468-9979 Las Vegas Young Professionals Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/lvypkiwanis Sean Raquepo: President; raquepos@gmail.com; 702-875-2256 Francis Casanova: Director of Public Relations; fralcas@gmail. com Inland Empire Young Professionals Ronald Liu: President; ronald.f.liu@gmail.com Casey Hewson: chews001@ucr.edu California Young Professionals Kiwanis V.K. Shah: President; president@caypKiwanis.org. Grace Chi: Incoming President; gracexchi@gmail.com San Diego Young Professionals Karina Sousa: karina@sousa.com Antelope Valley Young Professionals Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KYPAV New board: Misty: President; Jessica Pita: President Elect; Jen Monjack: Secretary; Elijah Hargreaves: Treasurer You can contact Richard Olmstead (See final page) for more info on Antelope Valley.
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Before Joining Kiwanis International Make the most of your Circle K years to make the transition into Kiwanis that much easier. Become familiar with your Kiwanis club while you are still a Circle K’er. Get to know your Kiwanians and see that they are a fun and great group of people. If you end up joining the same Kiwanis club that sponsored your Circle K, then that’s even better, but just familiarize yourself with Kiwanians so that you won’t be intimidated when you join any Kiwanis club. Before you join a Kiwanis club, do a little research. Don’t pay your dues on the first day and feel free to try out different clubs in the area first. Each club has different fees and focuses; some clubs are primarily service while others may be more social or fundraising. Besides the focus of that Kiwanis club, also consider the number of active members. Similar to some CKI clubs, there may be a large membership overall, but a low number of participants at events. The best way to determine this information is to get in contact with the Kiwanis club, attend the meetings and attend the events. Finding Kiwanis Clubs around your area Chances are, you’ve moved away from the city you went to for college after you graduated. What if you want to join a Kiwanis club, but have no idea where to find one near you? Luckily there is a tool specifically for that by following this link: http://sites.kiwanis.org/Kiwanis/en/MembershipInterest/FindAClub.aspx You may also use the following link to connect with CKI and Key Club Alumni: http://sites.kiwanis.org/Kiwanis/en/Alumni/CKI-Alumni/Home.aspx Starting up your own club What do you do if there are no Kiwanis or YP clubs in your area? Well then you start up your own of course! It may seem a daunting task, but it will be very rewarding and there are a multitude of resources available for starting up a new club. One example of a new club that recently started up was Inland Empire Young Professionals, otherwise known as IEYP. This club began when Ronald Liu, the current President and former CKI Lieutenant Governor of Desert Oasis, wanted to join a Young Professionals near his area, but didn’t find any established clubs. He sent word out to see if there were others interested in this as well and found a number of enthusiastic individuals. So in September 2011, he attended a board meeting at the Kiwanis Club of Riverside and proposed a new Young Professionals which was then approved by the board. In March of 2012, the Inland Empire Young Professionals were officially inducted into the Kiwanis Club of Riverside. Bottom line, all it takes are some like-minded individuals with a passion for volunteering to start up a new club in any area. Here are resources for starting up your very own Kiwanis or YP club. -Under New Club Building: http://www.kiwanisone.org/Pages/Resources/default.aspx?PageID=297 -General resources for building a new club: http://www.kiwanisone.org/Pages/Resources/default.aspx?PageID=184 4| Tranistion Guide
Membership Becoming a member of a Kiwanis club is somewhat different from Circle K. Instead of just signing up and then paying your dues, a Kiwanis member of the club must sponsor or nominate you before they move on to a vote for you to join. When you are made an official Kiwanian, there will be an induction ceremony where you will recite the Kiwanis oath and presented with the objects of Kiwanis, membership certificate, Kiwanis pin and name tag. Shortly after, you will have a member orientation where you are given the history, guidelines and expectations of the club. Straight out of college with debts piled up, many recent graduates will cringe at the thought of membership dues. As Kiwanis International, there are international dues as well as district dues and club dues. Fortunately, Kiwanis International understands the financial situation of the recently graduated. That is why, for the first two years of membership, fees on both the district and international level are waived if you were previously a part of the Kiwanis Family such as Circle K or Key Club. Furthermore, many Kiwanis clubs will waive the membership dues the first few years for their members too, again if they were a part of the Kiwanis Family. For more information on dues structure and enrollment fees: http://www.cnhkiwanis.org/Files/Dues_Breakdown_Letter.pdf http://www.cnhkiwanis.org/Files/Graduated-Enrollment-Fees.pdf For more information on membership: http://community.kiwanisone.org/media/p/104.aspx Kiwanis Meetings Kiwanis meetings are more traditional and formal than Circle K meetings. Many will start with a pledge followed by an anthem and follow a structured schedule. Some clubs have their meetings at lunch time and will provide food at their meetings, though there is a luncheon fee. Like Circle K, Kiwanis clubs will have happy sad change, except the members will be paying in bills instead of change. Many clubs will often have guest speakers at their meetings that speak near the end before the closing. In general there are many long established traditions in Kiwanis clubs such as cheers and applauses. Giving back to the Kiwanis Family The growth of our Kiwanis Family is largely due to the generous support of Kiwanis members who invest in our developing generation of young leaders. After becoming a member of Kiwanis, you have the opportunity to make this difference in someone else’s life. Give back to Circle K or any other Kiwanis Family branch by sponsoring their clubs or helping start a new one. For more information on sponsoring a club: http://www.kiwanisone.org/Pages/Resources/default.aspx?PageID=178
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Questions? Have More Questions?
Kiwanis is passionate about helping provide others with the means to serve their communities. If you have any questions regarding Kiwanis or the topics mentioned in this guide, the following district officers are at your service! Gary Jander 2012-2013 CNH Kiwanis Governor garyjander@gmail.com Rae Whitby-Brummer 2013-2014 CNH Kiwanis Governor raewhitby@aol.com Camille Goulet CNH Circle K District Administrator ckicamille@gmail.com Jonathan Cao-Nguyen 2012-2013 CNH Circle K District Governor governor@cnhcirclek.org This guide was compiled just for you by the 2012-2013 CNH Circle K District Kiwanis Family Committee. We wish you luck in your service-minded endeavors, and hope that you continue to serve the children of the world.