Service. Leadership. Fellowship.
SUNY New Paltz CKI
October-December 2014 Newsletter
Edited by Eloise Pillarella
Table of Contents 1- New York Speaking 2- Club Meeting Snapshots 3- Off-Campus Service 4- Let It Snow Charity Gala
New York Speaking
New York Speaking is an a New York Circle K International district event that focuses on the Circle K tenant of fellowship. This year, it was held at the Georgian Lakeside Resort from November 7th-9th in Lake George, NY. Ten SUNY New Paltz Circle K members attended this interactive conference, and all of them had a really great time! We all got to make friends with Circle K members across New York State, including Cornell, Syracuse, and NYU. This conference was a fun mini get-away filled with friendship, leadership workshops, games, and a dance on Saturday night. "What's really great about New York Speaking is that you get to bond with your fellow club members, and make new friends from across the district at the same time", said Susan Goetz, an attendee of New York Speaking. At this conference, the nights were packed with fellowship activities and the days were packed with fun workshops. Sandra Chang, SUNY New Paltz Circle K Vice President, led a leadership workshop where participants learned what kind of team player they are. Their was also a service fair where we learned about ongoing district service projects, and completed service projects, like making Holiday Cards for families in need. Everyone in attendance had a fabulous weekend, and we were all excited to hear that the theme of the upcoming Spring District Convention is: NYCKI Hunger Games! Enjoy these pictures of SUNY New Paltz Circle K attending New York Speaking:
Club Meeting Snapshots Our club meets every Wednesday at 8 P.M. in the Student Union Building. At our meetings, we either complete an in-house service project, participate in a leadership activity, or just have some fun and build fellowship. Our club meetings were super fun, productive, and successful this semester. We prepared craft projects for service trips to New Windsor Nursing home and The Children's Home of Poughkeepsie, learned about the Eliminate Project, and completed projects in teams; just to name a few of our meeting time activities. Here are some snapshots that capture the excitement and good vibes of our weekly meetings
Off Campus Service Off Campus serving takes a lot of planning and effort, but it is completely worth it. Helping and interacting with members of our community is very rewarding. This semester, SUNY New Paltz Circle K completed over ten different Off Campus service projects. We would like to send a special thank you to all of our members who donated their time and energy to service this semester. These service projects couldn't of happened without your participation, and we hope you're already looking forward to the service opportunities we are beginning to plan for next semester! On Saturday, October 18, SUNY New Paltz participated in Make A Difference Day in solidarity with numerous other campus clubs and organizations. Make A Difference Day is a national day if service. Each club or organization was sent to different locations in the Hudson Valley. Our club members were sent to The Kingston YMCA to help harvest vegetables and complete garden work for the Kingston YMCA farm project. The Farm Project teaches children gardening skills, as well as the importance of eating fresh food and vegetables. The farm project also donates produce from their farm to local nursing homes and hospitals. We had so much fun being outside on a beautiful fall day and helping a great organization. Here are some pictures from MAD 2014:
The Make A Difference Day 2014 Team! This semester, we made two separate trips to The Children's Home of Poughkeepsie. The Children's home is a place where children who are placed in emergency foster care can live and be taken care of until a family is found to place them with. Children living here are usually experiencing tough times/ family problems, so they really appreciate that we come to spend time with them and have some fun. I know that personally, whenever I visit The Children's Home, I really bond with and spend quality time with a couple of kids. These personal connections are what makes service meaningful to me. Our October Children's Home visit consisted of decorating Halloween cookies and playing outside. For our November visit, we made paper turkeys to celebrate Thanksgiving. Our club loves working with children, and we plan on doing even more service with children next semester. It's important to spend time with the elderly too. That's why we take trips to New Windsor Nursing Home. The residents at New Windsor are so sweet, funny, and appreciative. Spending time with them is an honor, and a truly rewarding experience. On the next page are some pictures from our visits to New Windsor.
Let it S.N.O.W. Charity Gala This event held on campus on Monday, December 8th was quite a success! Thank you to all our club members who helped with preparation and tabling, and we would like to especially thank Danielle Roma and Sandra Chang for all the time and energy they put into organizing this event. The Charity Gala was all about S.N.O.W., which stands for Serving Numerous Organizations Whole Heartedly. Service at this event included raising money for The Eliminate Project, making no-sew blankets to donate, and writing encouraging notes to hand out to stressed out students during finals week. This event was highly collaborative, with numerous SUNY New Paltz clubs tabling and participating. The Charity Gala allowed Circle K to bring the New Paltz campus community together to support meaningful causes and chill out for charity!