Summer Kronicle 2019

The

Kronicle

The official publication of the Georgia District of Circle K International

SUMMER 2019 EDITION

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Table of Contents 4 5 6 7 9 10 12 13 14 18 20 22 24 27 30 31 2

Governor’s Welcome and Project Letter from the Editor International President Introduction International Trustee Introduction District Goals Meeting the District Board District Events Georgia District of Circle K International Map Introducing our LTGs | Spotlight Circle K 101 Club Monthly Reports and Dues Recruitment: Seeking Out New Members How to Master Instagram CKIx Overview K-Fam Konnection Service Partners

WORDS FROM OUR LEADERS

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Governor’s Welcome Hello, Georgia District!

My name is Lucy Zheng, and I am honored to have the opportunity to serve you as the Georgia District Governor this year. I am a 5th year student at Georgia Tech, majoring in civil engineering. This year will be my 4th year in CKI, and my 5th year in the Kiwanis family. I believe that my time in CKI definitely changed my college experience for the better, and I cannot wait to share my love for this organization with the members I meet.

Lucy Zheng District Governor Georgia District Circle K Georgia Institute of Technology governor@georgiacirclek.org (912) 506 - 2716

I’ve been lucky enough to meet CKI members from all over the world these past few years through my travels outside of the Georgia District.

I’ve attended our international convention the past 3 summers in San Antonio, Chicago, and most recently Orlando; it’s amazing to be able to see how truly international our organization is at these events. A lot of my closest friends in college are people that I met through CKI, and I feel so thankful that I have such a strong support system.

One of my goals this year is to educate our clubs about the district and international aspects of our organization to strengthen the communication of members outside of their own club. So, keep an eye out for regular updates from me! I will be trying my best to visit clubs as well to talk to members in person and serve alongside our clubs.

Those who have met me probably already know about my crazy love for driving in my beat-up Corolla, so I hope to see you around!

Yours in service,

Governor’s Project The Governor’s Project for the 2019-2020 year is STUFH! STUFH stands for Students Team Up to Fight Hunger. STUFH was actually started by a past CKI member, and it is so easy to get involved! STUFH doesn’t have stand-alone warehouses or food pantries; instead, the mission encourages CKI members to help their local community.

Any project relating to food insecurity is a STUFH project. For example, sorting bread at a food bank, serving meals at a soup kitchen, and making PB&J sandwiches for the homeless all count as working with STUFH. To find out more about STUFH, check out their website: stufh.org!

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Letter from the Editor Hello Georgia District and Readers!

My name is Michelle Vo and I am your Georgia District Bulletin Editor for the 2019 – 2020 year. I am a rising 3rd year student at Georgia Tech, majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in computer science.

This is my 1st year on district board and my 2nd year being part of the Kiwanis family. As a relatively new member, I am honored to be accepted in such a big organization and I can’t wait to see how Circle K evolves during my term!

Michelle Vo Bulletin Editor Georgia District Circle K Georgia Institute of Technology editor@georgiacirclek.org

This year we’ve decided to bring back the Kronicles – the official publication of the Georgia District of CKI. This gives us the opportunity to share more about everything that goes on in the district. In this edition, you’ll find information on district events, our divisions, club tips, and many more exciting news and recourses.

As the summer comes to an end and a new school year starts, I look forward to meeting new members, participating in all the upcoming district events, and making the Kronicles exciting and useful for everyone, regardless if you’re part of the Kiwanis family or not.

Therefore, if you have any suggestions/feedback on how I can improve the Kronicles or want to be included in future editions, don’t be afraid to reach out to me.

Don’t forget to share this edition and thanks for reading!

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International President HELLO lovely humans of GACKI– If we have not yet met, I am Billy! I am a tiny human from the Florida District who can always be found under a tree, and after serving as an International Trustee representing the great Georgia District, this year I am humbled to be serving as our International President. That is just a fancy title that means I am here to support YOU! We live in a world that is just as beautiful as it is filled with injustices – the most incredible part of being a member of CKI is that we can address those ills. We are part of a global movement led by university students, and last year without CKI there would have been almost 200,000 less (reported) hours dedicated to serving our communities; we are part of a massive and ever-growing family, one that transcends geographical boundaries and connects our near 11,000 members across 18 countries through service, fellowship, and leadership. This should be a source of pride and something to celebrate, something to shout throughout your campus so that more students than ever before can find their home with CKI! As the fall semester approaches, I hope you have been thinking about how you will contribute to bringing more good to this world.

How will you engage and partner with your community through more conscience means, to maximize your impact? How will you expose new people to the opportunities available through CKI, so they can have an experience as special as you have had as part of this family? What is your purpose, and how can that be realized through CKI? It is important to center yourself in this way and allow that to inform the path forward. With this in mind I am beyond excited to see everything that we will accomplish this year– together!

Yours in loving service,

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Billy Hackett International President Circle K International bhackett.cki@gmail.com (239) 821 - 5296

International Trustee Hello Georgia CKI! My name is Steve Shaw and I have the honor of serving as your International Trustee. I am currently a Junior studying Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University.

For the past 7 years, I have been a proud member of the Kiwanis Family as a Key Clubber and CKI’er. This past year, I served on the Carolinas District Board as a lieutenant governor, where I had the opportunity to work with five club boards that each bought a different skill set to the table. I also have served as the Projects Representative for the CKIx Planning Committee, where I helped to coordinate the CKIx Day of Service.

As an international trustee, my goal is to help you all achieve your goals. Through working with the district board and our members, I believe we can foster club growth, sustainable service, and a greater community amongst our CKI clubs.

With this spirit of progress in mind, I believe we can build off the success of last year and take the Georgia District to new heights.

At last year’s day of service in Georgia, I had the opportunity to witness the dedication and motivation of the members of the Georgia District. Now, I can proudly say I am serving you all and am looking forward to meeting y’all throughout the year!

Steve Shaw International Trustee Circle K International Duke University steven.shaw@carolinascki.org (631) 949 - 2679

Yours in service, Steve Shaw

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Getting To Know The District

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Georgia District Goals

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2019 - 2020

The Georgia District will have 350 members by March 31, 2020.

The Georgia District will have 2 reactiviated and/or chartered clubs by March 31, 2020.

The Georgia District will raise $3500 for the WASH Project by March 31, 2020.

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The Georgia District will have 65 attendees at the Fall Membership Retreat and 75 attendees at the District Convention by March 31, 2020.

The Georgia District will have 3050 service hours by March 31, 2020.

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MEET THE DISTRICT BOARD 2019 - 2020 Executive Board

Lucy Zheng

Amanda Lang

Michelle Vo

GOVERNOR governor@georgiacirclek.org

SECRETARY - TREASURER sectreas@georgiacirclek.org

BULLETIN EDITOR editor@georgiacirclek.org

Lieutenant Governors

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Leah Reiser

Linda Qiu

Chloe Crumbley

COASTAL DIVISION LTG coastalltg@georgiacirclek.org

METRO DIVISION LTG metroltg@georgiacirclek.org

MOUNTAINS DIVISION LTG mountainsltg@georgiacirclek.​org

Trey Dolder

Alyssa Adel

PERIMETER DIVISION LTG perimeterltg@georgiacirclek.​org

PLAINS DIVISION LTG plainsltg@georgiacirclek.org

Committee Chairs

Mina Jeong

Armando Acosta

Abbey May So

MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIR CONVENTIONS CHAIR & EDUCATION CHAIR conventions@georgiacirclek.​org publicrelations@georgiacirclek.org mde@georgiacirclek.org

Rylie Geohegan

Julia Tang

SERVICE CHAIR service@georgiacirclek.org

WEBMASTER webmaster@georgiacirclek.org

Administrators

Virginia Braswell

Brent Leslie

ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR virginia@georgiacirclek.org

DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR administrator@georgiacirclek.​org

Stacey Fountain

Anla Etheridge

ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR anla@georgiacirclek.org

ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR stacey@georgiacirclek.org

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District Events Fall Membership Retreat When: November 8-10, 2019 Where: FFA/FCCLA Campgrounds in Covington, GA FMR is a weekend-long conference held every year in November. Circle K members from all over the district (and maybe even from other districts!) gather together to learn more about Circle K and leadership through workshops, serve in a district-wide service project, and socialize with other Circle K members!

This is definitely an event that many members hold close to their heart. You are guaranteed to have an amazing time making new friends and catching up with old friends.

Check out the slide-show video from 2018 and read more about FMR at http://www.georgiacirclek.org/fall-membership-retreat. html

District Convention When: February 21-23, 2020 Where: Peachtree City, GA DCON is the Georgia District annual conference to celebrate and recognize accomplishments of clubs, officers and members for the outstanding year as well as elect district officers for the upcoming year.

From attending caucuses, house of delegates and workshops to coming together for service projects and award ceremonies, the weekend is packed!

It is not too early to start thinking about District Convention, try planning out the year keeping the awards in mind, not only to potentially win them at the end of the year, but because they can be a good guide to a successful year!

By CONVENTIONS CHAIR Mina Jeong

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Check out the awards packet from the past year by looking at the pdf copy provided on the GACKI website. To see more general information about DCON check out: http://www.georgiacirclek.org/district-convention. html

Georgia District of Circle K Club Map The Georgia District of Circle K is comprised of 16 clubs at different colleges and universities.

Our district is split into 5 divisions: Coastal, Metro, Mountains, Perimeter, and Plains.

In order to maintain communications between our clubs, each division is managed by 1 Lieutenant Governor.

Together, we are 1 district and we work together to serve Georgia.

By WEBMASTER Julia Tang

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Introducing our LTGs Linda Qiu, Metro LTG I am your returning Metro Division Lieutenant Governor. This will be 4th year in Circle K and my 3rd year serving you guys on the Georgia District Board. I’m a rising senior at Emory University majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology with a minor in Global Health, Culture and Society. I am on the premed track so I hope to go to medical school after a gap year. I’m so excited to further develop my connections with each club this service year, personally get to know our members, and help recruit/expand our division even more!

Division Updates: • Southern Crescent Technical College got chartered February 5, 2019 and will be making our Metro division 6-clubs strong!

• Georgia Tech has already started strong with their summer recruitment drives!

• Georgia Tech won 1st place for Outstanding Fundraising Club at ICON! • Georgia State had members out in Chicago, Illinois representing the Georgia Metro Division at the summer CKI Spark event in June!

• Lagrange is doing a great job keeping their Instagram page and stories active during the summer!

• A potential new CKI club might be joining our Metro Division as the 7th club!

Alyssa Adel, PLains LTG I am excited to be the new Lieutenant Governor for the Plains Division. I am going into my fourth year at Georgia Tech and my major is environmental engineering. I have been part of Circle K for two years now and held a committee chair position for my club last year. I love doing my part to help the community and especially enjoy volunteering at my local food bank and the Boys & Girls Club. I look forward to meeting all of my clubs and helping in any way I can.

Division Update: • A big thank you to JC Clark of Valdosta State University for his last 4 years of presidency. He has really helped grow and shape the club.

• My goal this year is to better connect the Plains Division to the rest of the district through service projects and more communication.

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Chloe Crumbley, Mountains LTG I am so glad to be your 2019-2020 Lieutenant Governor. I have been in the Kiwanis family since 2016, when I joined Key Club my junior year of high school. I have had the privilege of attending two joint international conventions as a Key clubber, and three district conventions. I go to Dalton State College, where I’m a secondyear English major, and I am pursuing a career in secondary education. I hope to be a Key Club faculty advisor and Kiwanian someday. I am looking forward to meeting with you, officers and the individual members.

Division Update: • Our clubs are small but growing! I plan to schedule inter-club events for the fall so our division can learn more about each other!

• Dalton State College already has 5 hours of service completed!

• I want to have at least 2 members (excluding myself) attend District Convention and Fall Membership Retreat. Email me if you are interested or want more information on these two fantastic trips!

Trey Dolder, Perimeter LTG I am happy to be returning as your Perimeter Division LTG for the following service year. I am a fourth year Chemistry major at the University of Georgia. The Perimeter Division, comprised of UGA and Oxford at Emory, absolutely killed it last year and I cannot wait to see that success continue again this year. There are a lot of great things planned for the perimeter division, so be ready to for exciting news coming all year long.

Division Updates: • The division is working on chartering a new Circle K club in Kennesaw. This will be the third club in our Perimeter Division!

• University of Georgia’s Circle K has reached a total of 75 members!

• University of Georgia won 2 international awards at CKIx this year!

Leah Reiser, Coastal LTG I am super excited to be serving as your Coastal Lieutenant this year. I am currently going into my 3rd year at Georgia Southern University with a major of Elementary Education and an English as a Second Language Certification. This is my second year on the District Board and I am going on my seventh year in the Kiwanis Family! I am looking forward to seeing what all we accomplish this year! If you would like to reach out please do! I would love to hear from you!

Division Updates: • Summer recruitment is underway at Georgia Southern University! Several recruitment drives have been attended by club officers at Orientation.

• All three clubs are preparing for their 1st meeting of the semester and for the year to come!

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District SPOTLIGHTS Distinguished Member Sean Chen Sean Chen is a student at Georgia State University and one of our most passionate members! He served as club co-secretary and vice president last year, with a vision to lead the club in the right direction. His infectious energy pumped up the atmosphere at both Fall Membership Retreat and District Convention last year. He was able to attend Spark! this summer as part of the second graduating class. Spark! is an exclusive leadership program hosted by Circle K International where you are mentored to develop your leadership style.

Distinguished Club University of West Georgia Shoutout to UWG Circle K for keeping up the service even during the summer!

West Georgia volunteered at Elaine Style’s Community Give-back on June 15th in Longview Park at Carrolton. One of their members, Tiarra Tishera Murphy, also attended CKIx in Orlando, working hard at her Day of Service site, representing UWG in the House of Delegates, and learning all she could at the workshops. Keep up the great work, UWG!

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Tips And Tricks For Your Club

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Circle K 101 Terminology If there’s one thing to know about Circle K, is that we love our acronyms! It can get confusing at times but you’re in luck! Here is a guide to some of the Circle K lingo so you can be in the know!

CKI CKIx

Circle K International Convention

CMR

club monthly report, filled out by the club secretaries

COLT

Club Officer Leadership Training, held towards the end of the school year where newly elected club members are trained by the District Board members

DCON

District Convention, held at the end of the service year where members reflect on and celebrate the past year and elect the new district board

District District Day of Service Division

multiple divisions in a region overseen by a governor a day where members from all branches of the Kiwanis family throughout the district come together to do a service event multiple clubs in a region overseen by a lieutenant governor

DOTC

District Officer Training Conference, held after DCON where the newly elected District Board members are trained

FMR

Fall Membership Retreat, held towards the beginning on the year where members throughout the district meet each other and do service events together

GACKI

Georgia District of Circle K International (also the name of our mascot, GACKI the Gecko)

Interclub IP

a joint service event with two or more Circle K clubs (each club having 2+ members) immediate past (ex. IP President)

K-Fam

Kiwanis family, refers to Kiwanis and its sponsored service leadership programs (including, Circle K, Key Club, Builders Club, K-kids, etc.)

Kiwanis

a joint service event with two or more branches of the Kiwanis family

LTG

Lieutenant Governor

MRF

monthly report form, filled out by the district board officers

Service Hours

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Circle K International

an hour spent by one Circle K member performing service

Georgia District CKI Cheer We love service, yes we do.

We love service, how about you?

Sound off.

GEORGIA! Sound off.

DISTRICT! We do service all the time We’re so awesome, we’re so fly.

We say ain’t and y’all with style Georgia District... CKI!

Our Pledge I pledge to upload the objects of Circle K International, to foster compassion and goodwill towards others through service and leadership, to develop my abilities and the abilities of all people, and to dedicate myself to the realization of humanity’s potential.

By MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION CHAIR Armando Acosta

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Club Monthly Reports and Dues Club Monthly Reports (CMRs) Club secretaries are required to submit an online Club Monthly Report (CMR) by the 5th of each month. These forms help the district and Circle K International monitor each club’s progress, which in turn helps target resources, such as promotional material and funding, back to the clubs! In addition, clubs must have all their CMRs submitted for the year in order to be considered for awards at District Convention, our annual weekend of celebration.

Check the Membership Update Center (MUC) to submit your CMRs. You can find this page by going to georgiacirclek.org > Membership Update tab > MUC and it helps to bookmark the page for your records! The form is straightforward and asks questions such as the total number of service hours completed the previous month and if your club showed any outstanding members. Lucy and I will be reading these forms every month, so feel free to leave any comments or questions to us!

If you’ve never logged into the MUC before, click “Forgot my password” to set your password.

If you have issues logging into the MUC, make sure you inputted officer information. The past secretary should have access to do this. If you still cannot log in, send me an email at sectreas@georgiacirclek.org and I will make sure to help you out within two days!

By SECRETARY & TREASURER Amanda Lang

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Dues Club treasurers - dues are due November 1st but you can start submitting them as early as October 1st through the Membership Update Center (MUC) by generating an invoice and paying by check or credit card. Credit card is preferred since it minimizes the risk of your payment getting lost via mail. If your payment is not received by the deadline, your club may lose its good standing.

Each club must pay two “kinds” of dues: 1. District dues are important to help fund district events, create district scholarships, and cover insurance at events. These are $12 per member, but club treasurers can choose to make club dues higher to create their own budget to pay for T-shirts, service materials, etc. As the club roster is updated on the Member Update Center, $12 per member must be paid.

2. International dues must be submitted by the club every year. These depend on the type of school you attend.

• 4-year school with >5000 students: $600 Dalton, Emory, GT, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, UGA, UWG, VSU • 4-year school with <5000 students: $450 GCSU, LaGrange • 2-year school: $300 ABAC, East Georgia State College, Oxford College of Emory, Southern Crescent Tech To help lessen how much the club members have to pay, the club treasurer should reach out to the sponsoring Kiwanis club to help pay dues. Most of the time, they will cover the international dues! You can also reach out to your school’s SGA for help with funds. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to me at sectreas@georgiacirclek.org.

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Recruitment: Seeking Out New Members It’s back to school season, which means it’s time to freshen up our tabling pitches! It’s important to actively recruit all year round, but especially at the beginning of the year when a lot of students are trying to find a new club to join. Here are some tips to keep in mind when you’re wrangling up some new recruits this fall!

Emphasize Key Club • Whether you have a poster or a tri-fold display board, try to have at least one noticeable placement of the Key Club seal or logo. You’ll catch the eye of former Key Clubbers walking by and seeing something familiar!

• One easy way to start a conversation when someone approaches your table is to ask, “Have you ever heard of Key Club?” And then, you can explain that Circle K International is the college equivalent!

Promote your website and social media • Use QR codes and shortened links on your flyers and boards so that people can look for more information on your club without having to search for it.

• Offer an incentive for anyone who likes your Facebook page! If they choose to follow your page, they’ll start getting updates whenever your club posts about events.

Use international and Georgia CKI resources • Order recruitment material for free on the Circle K International store! There are posters, booklets, and other informational brochures that you can order, and shipping is free too! In the gifts section, you can buy some items that can be used as giveaways, from bookmarks to pens.

• Georgia Circle K has recruitment videos and presentations that you can play on a computer during your tabling events that introduce CKI. You can also find Georgia Circle K specific logos, such as our district peach and division seals! The international website has the branding guide and more logos that you can use.

Reach out to interested people • Collect names and emails of people on a spreadsheet. After tabling is over, email these people to thank them for stopping by and include any information about upcoming meetings, service opportunities, and socials you might be having!

• Email all the people who signed up a couple days before your club’s first meeting. They might realize they have free time and swing by!

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Elevator Pitch A basic elevator pitch is key when trying to grab students’ attention. It is important to add personal experiences and emphasize what the club is all about.

A basic elevator pitch could be...

“Circle K is an international collegiate service organization, and we have branches all over the world. We do a lot of service projects around the area such as _____, and you’re welcome to participate in any that you’re interested in or help start a new project with us. There are a lot of leadership opportunities available in Circle K, from the club level to state to international.

Even if you’re not interested in leadership, there are opportunities to really expand your horizons because of how widespread our organization is. We have state-wide events several times a year, and an international convention in the summer.”

By GOVERNOR Lucy Zheng

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How to Master Instagram Instagram is one of the most important social media platforms to market your organization! It has the best tools to engage with your community and allows you to easily use pictures and videos to increase your presence on campus. Here are some tips to help you and your club run your Instagram more efficiently:

1. Post Consistently

2. Focus on Visual Content • Use a lot of high-quality images that grab people’s attention to show how involved you are in your community! It is important to pick out the most relevant photos and posting content frequently in order to get more likes.

• For events, create images that contain important information such as the name, time, and location. (Canva is a free, easy program to make designs for advertisements!)

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• It is important to post on a regular schedule and during “off ” hours which includes early mornings, lunchtime, and evenings. These are the times when most of your followers will be active and have the best engagement across your audience!

• Posting on your Story is a useful and easy tool to use to promote upcoming events such as meetings or show what events are happening at the moment! These stories can be enjoyed for 24 hours. You can use geotagging, polls, filters, captions, GIFs, and other features to grab your audience’s attention.

• You can also get officers to log into the account whenever they are at service events so they post videos to share “behind the scenes’ clips”!

FOLLOW GEORGIA DISTRICT CKI ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!

facebook.com/georgiacirclek/

3. Reach out to everyone • Promote your Instagram account handle during meetings to your members and whenever you are recruiting new members! Be sure to follow other club members as well as other relevant Circle K accounts to gain more followers.

• When making your account, make sure you have a username that is recognizable and searchable for those trying to find your account.

• Encourage your officers and members to spread the word by spreading it on their personal accounts! You can also use popular hashtags to reach out a lot of people (Use #chooseCKI to be featured on the CKI Instagram account and #GACKI to be featured on the Georgia CKI’s Instagram account) • Be sure to stay active with your followers by commenting on posts and reposting in order to increase engagement.

twitter.com/GeorgiaCKI

instagram.com/georgiacki/

By PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIR Abbey May So

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Beyond The District

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The Georgia District had a magical time at CKIx, the Circle K International Convention. This year, it was held in Orlando, FL at the Disney Contemporary Resort. We enjoyed riding the monorails and watching the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom, while participating in the elections and workshops at the convention.

The Georgia District took home a lot of awards this year! Congrats to all the individuals and clubs from GACKI who won awards: Distinguished Governor Marisa Hoenig Distinguished District Administrator Brent Leslie Distinguished District Editor Amanda Lang Distinguished District Chairperson

Julia Tang

Distinguished District Chairperson Lucy Zheng Distinguished International Chairperson Lucy Zheng Outstanding Fundraising Clubs University of Georgia 3rd place Outstanding Fundraising Clubs Georgia Institute of Technology 1st place Outstanding Fundraising District Georgia District 2nd place Club Achievement: Silver Division Georgia Institute of Technology 3rd place Growth Enhances Membership University of Georgia Sapphire Division 3rd place

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Thoughts on CKIx Izah Tahir When I registered to go to CKIx, I had absolutely no idea what I was signing up for. I didn't expect to be at a Disney resort, I didn't expect for it to snow at the Kiwanis convention, and I definitely didn't expect to become close to people I had never even met.

From new people, experiences, volunteering, voting and the Disney Resort, my senses were so overwhelmed with peoples stories of how they found their way into CKI. CKI has aided them through building leadership skills, social skills, or finding their reason to make an impact on the world.

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Tiarra Murphy

CKIx is honestly something I believe everyone should try and experience at least once in their college career. I was able to make new friends and have great memories. From racing around a Disney Hotel on a scavenger hunt, doing service around Orlando, meeting new friends, and everything in between it was a wonderful time.

Leah Reiser Lucy Zheng My favorite part of CKIx was seeing all my friends from CKI. I led a team at CKIx named Undah the CKI (yes, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Little Mermaid reference), which was super rewarding! I had so much fun working alongside my team members at Clean the World sorting soap during Day of Service.

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K-Fam Konnection Words from our KEY CLUB GOVERNOR....

Hello Circle K! I’m Gloria, currently serving as the Georgia Key Club District Governor and it is an honor to be your Kiwanis Family Member. I am a rising senior and although I’m in my last year of Key Club, my love of the organization is stronger than ever!

Gloria Rhee District Governor Georgia District of Key Club Int. governor@gakeyclub.org

At the beginning of July, Key Clubbers from all over the district ventured off to Baltimore, MD for International Convention and I can honestly say it was one of the best trips I have ever been on. We explored the beautiful city of DC and its many museums before heading to the convention in Baltimore. As it was my first ICON, I got to experience for the first time the passion-driven spirit that carries Key Club and its many districts. I realized that Key Club was much larger than I had ever imagined, and I got to learn about the functions of other districts and how I could bring it back to our own. There were so many workshops to attend ranging from “Key Club Memes 101” to “How to create your own Hamilton dance” and I even got to meet Laura Marano at the Thirst Project Workshop.

We pulled through a 3 hour House of Delegates in which we went over so many amendments to our bylaws and eventually changed the Key Club pledge for the first time in its history. Finally, after another few hours of caucusing, we retired our past International Board and welcomed the new board.

The convention became such an amazing opportunity to meet Key Clubbers from literally all over the world and it’s crazy to think I have friends in the Bahamas through Key Club.

From the trip, I felt a lot closer to the Kiwanis Family as a whole and I realized how lucky I am to have found such an amazing organization. An organization that represents a group of people that care simply to care and truly value the relationships they foster for the sake of a better future.

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Service Partners International Preferred Charities The March of Dimes is a non-profit organization that leads the fight for the health of all moms and their babies by working to prevent birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Throughout the year, Circle K members raise money to support the March of Dimes.

In addition to collecting money, CKI members can participate in the annual March for Babies held in April.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is an organization that works to improve the lives of children in over 190 counties. Its main goal is to help children all over the world survive and reach their full potential by providing medicine, clean water, vaccines, and educational opportunities. CKI members work with UNICEF to support the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program in Haiti.

This program works to provide access to safe drinking water and ways to separate human waste from contact with people, and basic toilets. It also nurtures good hygiene practice, especially with handwashing soap.

International Service Partners Better World Books is an online non-profit organization that uses books collected primarily through book drives and resells them online. Each time a book is purchased from their website, a book is donated to someone in need.

CKI members can get involved by visiting the Book Drive research center on the website and signing up to hold a book drive on their college campus.

St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer and donor powered charity organization whose goal is to fund promising research to find cures to childhood cancers. The organization takes funds raised by their supporters and donates them to carefully selected research grants. CKI members can get involved by participating in the head shaving events. “Shavees” ask friends and family to make donations “on their head”. In return, they attend events to have their heads shaved in solidarity with kids fighting cancer.

Students Team Up to Fight Hunger (STUFH) is a national non-profit organization devoted to feeding the hungry, raising awareness among college students about food insecurity, and inspiring food drives at colleges around the country. CKI members can get involved by organizing food drives on their campus, donating time and/or money to local food backs, and grow their own food to donate to their local soup kitchen.

By SERVICE CHAIR Rylie Geohegan

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