Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.
THE KIWANIS MOTTO
Serving the children of the world.
THE KIWANIS VISION
Kiwanis will be a positive influence in communities worldwide — so that one day, all children will wake up in communities that believe in them, nurture them and provide the support they need to thrive.
THE KIWANIS OBJECTS
To give primacy to the human and spiritual, rather than to the material values of life.
To encourage the daily living of the Golden Rule in all human relationships.
To promote the adoption and the application of higher social, business and professional standards.
To develop, by precept and example, a more intelligent, aggressive and serviceable citizenship.
To provide, through Kiwanis clubs, a practical means to form enduring friendships, to render altruistic service and to build better communities.
To cooperate in creating and maintaining that sound public opinion and high idealism which make possible the increase of righteousness, justice, patriotism and goodwill.
Turning the page to a new chapter with renewed zest and focus, the members of the Eastern Canada & the Caribbean Division 23 Central district, are committed to serving the children of the world. Under the theme – “Empower, Inspire, Transform... United in Service”.
This publication serves as a hub that will link the clubs in the division; as well as promote and archive the exemplary work on display by it’s members. We aim to engage, inspire and empower the future generation, leaving them a lasting legacy of renewed hope that they can continue the positive growth into the future.
We’re anticipating a fun-filled and rewarding year under the Lieutenant Governor Sharon Usim’s theme: “Empower, Inspire, Transform... United in Service.”
Division 23 Central Bulletin Editor
Kiw. Christopher Samuels
KCNSA
BULLETIN TEAM
Divisional Photographer
David Brooks
Divisional Public Relations & Marketing
Romona Morgan
Lieutenant Governor Sharon Usim
Divisional Secretary
Georgia Henry
Lieutenant Governor Designate Michael Powell
Eastern Canada and the Caribbean Division 23 Central
kiwanis EC&C division 23 central
kiwanis 23 central
kiwanis 23C
kiwanis division 23 central jamaica
kiwanis 23 central kiwanisdivision23central
div23centralpr@gmail.com
CONNECT WITH US:
GOVERNOR’S
Message
Pam Rodney-White
Governor 2024/25
Kiwanis International
It is with an immense sense of pride that I extend heartfelt congratulations to Division 23 Central on your first issue of the divisional bulletin for 2024-2025. This is a wonderful opportunity to share collective achievements and strengthen connections. The bulletin will be a critical resource, presenting inspiring stories and events. It will be a platform to exchange ideas and celebrate successes.
As you continue the journey of community impact and service, take a moment to remind each other of the profound significance of service with distinction. Adhere to the ideals of fellowship and commitment to the children of the world. These are the ideals on which Kiwanis was founded and on which we stand. Each club in Division 23 Central has a critical role to create meaningful changes in the communities. Individual efforts are reflected in the success of clubs and club achievements are manifested in the district. You are encouraged to take pride in your achievements and bask in the knowledge that each act of kindness matters. As you uphold the values of Kiwanis, do so by;
Fostering inclusivity.
Let divisional leadership be an inspiration to others.
Form partnerships with businesses and local organizations in order to amplify impact.
Celebrate successes and share achievements to highlight and strengthen collective spirits.
Commendations to those involved in the production of the bulletin. Your dedication is exemplary. The bulletin will keep the Kiwanis community informed and spark renewed feelings of purpose and pride in the incredible service provided to the children of the world. I urge everyone to become actively engaged with the bulletin, contribute your stories, share opinions and let it reflect the vibrancy of the Kiwanis movement in the district.
Greetings my fellow Kiwanians,
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR’S
Message
Sharon Usim
Lieutenant Governor 2024/25
Eastern Canada and the Caribbean District
As at the date of writing this greeting it has been 78 days since taking office and what a whirlwind it has been. The initial apprehension has quickly given way to anticipation and excitement.
Amongst the first duties as a new LG was the several installations, commencing with the joint changing of the guard with Division 23 East. This was done specifically to establish the intended collaboration between both divisions, a desire of both Lieutenant Governors, to highlight our similarities and oneness of purpose.
Since then, the beehive of activities has been fast-paced, challenging, but most enjoyable. As your LG I am honoured to lead such a wonderful group of committed individuals with the singular intent of transforming lives and positively impacting those we serve.
As we continue to formulate our plans may we be mindful of our overarching commitment to serve others and not ourselves. The strategic plan rolled out by the division is designed to bring some structure and stability while ensuring continuity that will enhance our work and firmly establish our purpose.
I must reiterate the intent of the division to serve you and your clubs primarily through the transfer of knowledge, experience, and sharing of ideas from our interactions. Your autonomy is sacrosanct, but we understand that unleashing the power of collaboration makes for greater effectiveness and ease in implementing our service projects. Our effectiveness should be measured by the extent of our positive impact on those we serve, as opposed to the imposition of abstract measuring tools.
In all we do, we must ensure our members’ welfare is a part of our focus, as strong members make strong clubs, resulting in a stronger division. I encourage all clubs to develop your own strategic plans, which will help you to address issues affecting the status and health of your clubs, in your efforts to add new members.
I wish for each of you a most rewarding year of service, growth, fun and fellowship.
CKI GOVERNOR’S
Message
Demarrio Powell
Governor 2024/25
Caribbean District of Circle K International
Greetings Division 23C!
I am honoured to extend my greetings as Governor of the Caribbean District of Circle K International. The unwavering commitment of Kiwanis Division 23C to service and community empowerment continues to inspire us in CKI. We greatly value the partnership and shared mission that binds us, as it fosters not only community impact but also the growth of future leaders. As we press forward, let’s remember that our strength lies in unity and our passion for serving others.
Together, we can continue to build a brighter future for our communities across the Caribbean and beyond. Thank you for your support and dedication to the Kiwanis mission. Here’s to another year of incredible service and fellowship!
Warm regards, Demarrie Brown Governor, Caribbean District of Circle K International.
Dear Kiwanians,
KC GOVERNOR’S
Message
Joshua Bertram
Governor 2024/25
Key Club Jamaica District
Warm greetings from the Key Club Jamaica District!
On behalf of the Key Clubbers across the district, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support and guidance. Your dedication to service and mentorship continues to inspire us as we grow as leaders and strive to make a positive impact in our homes, schools and communities.
This year, we are committed to raising the bar as we focus on meaningful service and sustainable initiatives. With your encouragement, we have already made great strides, including the success of our International Coastal Clean-up project, which was a testament to the power of teamwork and community spirit.
As we prepare for our upcoming District Convention, I want to acknowledge the vital role Kiwanians play in shaping our success. Your presence and collaboration will undoubtedly elevate the experience for our Key Clubbers. Additionally, as we work to grow our membership and strengthen our district-wide impact, your mentorship and partnership remain invaluable.
We look forward to continuing this journey of service with you, creating meaningful change in the lives of those we touch, as a Kiwanis family.
Thank you for your leadership and dedication to inspiring the next generation of servant leaders.
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR’S
Message
Odence Rose
District Administrator
Builders & K-kids Clubs, Jamaica
We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Builders and K-kids clubs help students develop essential life skills, such as social skills which are achieved through their interaction with their peers and strangers, especially when they are working with others who come from diverse backgrounds. Being exposed to different cultures and lifestyles can also help make our students more grateful for the things they have, including their schooling, which can in turn help them better meet their learning objectives. Additionally, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr.,
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
And in this regard, Builders and K-kids clubs can provide ways and means for our students to discover their desire to serve. When they discover a passion and a heart to serve, they realise that serving others is a new, exciting way of life.
The service club experience at a young age can help students accept their own ability to make a difference, enhance their knowledge of their own passions and convictions, and develop their ability to empathize with those in need in their communities. Once this is recognized by our students it takes them through life.
This is what our clubs are about, developing this level of understanding to share from a young age. As our members grow older these attributes are developed.
Once other students recognize the joy of peers as they organize food and clothing drives for the less fortunate, they too will want to become a part of the club. And here our faculty
advisors and parents have the opportunity to communicate the impact of the club on the wider community, to others. This allows other parents to become aware of Kiwanis and here comes another pool of volunteers for our Kiwanis Clubs.
As we move forward in this administrative year, I encourage our Kiwanis Clubs to engage our Builders and K-kids to participate in this year’s Global Service Challenge of organizing and executing health and wellness projects in their schools and wider communities.
Let us therefore as Kiwanis Clubs, work with our SLP family of clubs, so that we can all pool together to improve the world, one child and one community at a time.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Newly Minted Lieutenant Governors of Kiwanis 23 East and 23 Central to Focus Efforts to Deliver More to Our Children… Our Future!
Saundra Bailey, a retired insurance executive and Sharon Usim, an attorney-at-law have taken on the tasks to lead two key divisions of the Kiwanis movement in the Kingston & St. Andrew and St. Thomas area - 23 East and 23 Central. Kiwanis, through their many projects and programmes empowers communities to make lasting differences in the lives of children under the motto, “Serving the Children of the World”.
Within Kiwanis, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) serves as a leader in their division and works towards expanding Kiwanis’ reach and helping clubs in their division enhance their work and value in the communities and among the many children and schools they serve. LGs, therefore work with the clubs in their division to expand and strengthen several branded Kiwanis programmes and capitalize on the diversity of skillsets and vocations in the clubs to make a difference and a positive contribution to the wellbeing of our children. Mrs. Usim, reflected that, “To achieve all that we want as a Kiwanian does not just happen, it takes an extraordinary level of commitment and selflessness which includes the sharing of one’s time, one’s talents, one’s financial resources. Truthfully sometimes it takes more than commitment, it necessitates sacrifice!”
Together both LGs will have oversight of 35 clubs – 20 in Division 23 E and 15 in Division 23 C and collectively 1,650 members. They thanked their members for the confidence they bestowed in them, and the previous LGs for their leadership over the past year and committed to their members, at a Changing of the Guard ceremony in late September, to be their servant leaders – promising to carry the charge with integrity, passion, tolerance, professionalism and love. Mrs. Bailey reminded those present that, “Children are our priority in Kiwanis, and it takes a village to raise a child. Each one of us is part of this village and when we work together, we make the seemingly impossible, possible.”
Both Saundra and Sharon in accepting the task at hand, recognized the many positive strides being made to support our children in Jamaica, but equally bemoaned the many worrying trends that are of grave concern, including the incidence of child poverty, increasing incidence of antisocial behaviours, and poor educational outcomes to name a few. They charged their fellow Kiwanians and their clubs to use the high levels of goodwill in our society and the strong Kiwanis brand to do more for the good of our country, knowing that our work and impact can be sustainable and outlive us for generations to come.
Both divisions have implemented thousands of projects over the years towards supporting children and young people and their communities. Kiwanis Service Leadership Programme (SLP) is the flagship thorugh which clubs support children and youth development. These programmes include K-kids and Builders Club in Basic and Primary/Preparatory Schools, Key Club in High Schools, CKI in Tertiary Level Institutions and Aktion Clubs for Adults living with disabilities. Earlier this year, Division 23 E spearheaded the launch of a programme, ‘Positive Attitudes, Courtesies & Ethics (PACE) with potentially a national reach to be delivered to students up to 12 years of age. This is intended to strengthen discipline and civic pride in our schools.
Both LGs in unison charged their respective clubs and members to “keep up the great work you are already doing, scale up efforts where needed, re-energize and re-engage and most importantly, resist the appeal of the status quo. And to Jamaicans that have a passion to serve children and sponsors who want to partner with us, please join us in our quest to improve our country, one child, one community at a time!”
Kiwanis Club of West St. Andrew gives back to Ferry through health fair.
OVER 3,000 people in Ferry Heights and adjoining communities, including areas of Portmore and Spanish Town, St. Catherine, benefited from a comprehensive, three-day health fair – on November 4, 5, and 6 – held at Coore’s Fesco Service Station in St. Andrew.
The event, organised by the Kiwanis Club of West St. Andrew; Dr Andrea Bonnick, United States-certified oral and maxillo-facial surgeon and her Health Mission’s team; and the operators of Coore’s Fesco Service Station, was in the pipeline for a number of years. However, with the growing demand for healthcare services that are not affordable to the families in these areas, the organisers ensured that the event was held this year.
“The Coore family operate their business in the community, and on several occasions, people reach out to them for support. They decided to give back to the community in a fulsome way, and reached out to the Kiwanis Club of West St. Andrew for support in organising the event,” said Claudine Heaven, president of the Kiwanis Club of West St. Andrew.
“The feedback from the community was overwhelming. The doctors and nurses were able to assess the patients and they were given prescriptions that were filled at the health fair as well. Our partners QualCare and R. A. Williams Distributors supplied the medications that were filled during the health fair,” Heaven added.
“There were persons waiting in line from as early as 4:30 a.m., to ensure that they were seen by the doctors, and also participate in the many initiatives and tests that were available to them. Most of the attendees were grateful, because they were seen on the day by the health officials, as opposed to the long waiting periods at the hospitals. It was also some people’s first time seeing a dentist, and this number included senior citizens,” Heaven said.
Dr Bonnick, who has led several medical missions all over the world, said the overall goal was to provide comprehensive, sustainable healthcare for the people in these communities.
“The event finally came together in 2024, and we were able to get good people involved in the process. Getting the right kind of support can be challenging, but with the support of the Kiwanis Club of West St Andrew, the medical teams, and volunteer organisations and other support personnel, our efforts really matched the outcome. We did not expect anything less,” Dr Bonnick said.
Her team was comprised of over 12 volunteers, including her three daughters who were attending the mission for the first time. “Over 100 people came on the day that Tropical Storm Rafael came to Jamaica. We saw many children on that day. Overall, we are always willing to provide support, and we are very proud of what we accomplished on this mission,” she said.
Hugh Coore, vice-chairman of Future Energy Services Company (FESCO) and operator of Coore’s Fesco Service Station, said his team made a valuable contribution towards the project after seeing the need for these services in the surrounding communities.
“As a business owner in a community that is socially and economically disadvantaged, we saw the need for accessible healthcare assistance. We subsequently connected with Dr Bonnick and her team, who committed to leading a mission to Jamaica. There is much more to be done, because even after the event ended over the three days, people turned up thinking that they could still see a doctor. We will definitely look at hosting another event of this nature again,” Coore said.
Dr Bonnick’s team, with additional support from health officials and students at The University of the West Indies, Mona School of Dentistry, under the tutelage of Dr Thaon Jones, head of school and undergraduate programme coordinator, and a team from the St Catherine Health Department, also volunteered their support to the initiative.
UPCOMING Events
What are we Promising?
We promise our clubs to understand their individual needs and to support and guide them in meeting those needs.
We promise to partner with KI and the EC&C District to meet our mutual goals by providing greater support to our clubs to improve their impact and compliance.
We promise to engage, coach and support our Divisional Officers and Committee Members as we provide opportunities to serve, learn and grow.
How will we be Structured?
How will we be Structured?
What will we be doing Differently?
DIVISIONALTeam
Sharon Usim Lieutenant Governor
Christopher Robinson Coaching
Nadeen Francis Sergeant-at-Arms
Ralston Nunes LG’s Advisor New Club Building
Georgia Henry Divisional Secretary
Paulette Kirkland Lead CLE Trainer
Dane McLean Asst. Sergeant-at-Arms
Robert Wynter LG’s Advisor
Michael Powell Lieutenant Governor Designate Membership, Growth & Retention
Jason McIntosh Tech Team Lead
William Reeson SLP: Key Club & Circle K
Deborah Manning LG’s Advisor
Desmond Batchelor Immediate Past Lieutenant Governor Governance
