The Cirkling - November 2022

The Cirkling The Cirkling

NJ District Board

District Governor

Katie Lynch

Rutgers University District Secretary Natasha Iqbal

The College of New Jersey District Treasury Emily Scarborough Rutgers University District Editor William King Stockton University Garden LTG Moujnir Lewis Stockton University Metro LTG Meciel Guisihan New Jersey Institute of Technology

Editor's Note Editor's Note

Hello Circle K!

Autumn has always been my favorite season, and it's not only because of the great holidays that are apart of it. Getting together with friends and family either for everything spooky or to feast are both amazing, but it goes much deeper. Autumn, like spring, is a time of change, as the trees lose their fiery colored leaves, classrooms fill, and each semester brings with it endless possibilities. As I'm writing this, I can ' t believe all of the incredible things I have had the fortune to be apart of with CKI over this semester Here collected for you is all is some of that amazing work our District has done so far.

I hope this newsletter, the November edition of the Cirkling, showcases to you just how much we can accomplish as a District. This semester saw us continously make and break records; whether that was in INSIGHT attendance or in fundraising for Brick x Brick, we continue to trailblaze in our international organization. For all that success we are having as a district, I couldn't be more thankful for all that we ' ve accomplished, and with that in mind I really enjoyed making this edition of the Cirkling for you all.

And it's all because of you, so take a look at where we ' ve been, and where you can go! Here Inside this edition of the Cirkling, you will read about a day in the life of being an District Board Member from our Metro Zone LTG Meciel Guisihan As an LTG on our District board, she knows a thing or two about being a treasurer, secretary, and a leader, all rolled into one After reading, I think you will agree that a position on the Board can really develop you in ways you never thought possible, and will lead to so many amazing moments. We hope that you will be inspired to think about joining our board in the future.

Beyond that, you will read about all the fun at our Volleyball Event from our District Treasurer Emily Scarborough. Next you will hear from our Kiwanis Family Relations Chair, and newly minted District Secretary Natasha Iqbal about our successful series of Webinars between her Committee members and our NJ Key Club District. You'll also hear about the amazing success we had with our INSIGHT, from the one who planned it all, Con Con Chair Sarah Harvey! Lastily, you'll hear from our Seabreeze LTG Matthew Yuro about Brick x Brick, and what it means to him.

I'm thankful that I have gotten to meet and know so many of you, and I hope this Cirkling inspires you to keep up the amazing work NJ CKI!

Thank you CKI for making this a record breaking fall semester, and I can ' t wait to join you for everything to come!

Yours in Service, Leadership, and Fellowship, William King

2022-2023 NJ District Editor

Governor's Greeting Governor's Greeting

I hope you are all enjoying the colder weather, getting ready for the holiday season, and preparing to finish out the semester strong These past few weeks, I’ve been busy with school and family, but I’ve also been making a list of holiday movies to watch after final exams are over thinking we should have a NJ CKI movie night on Zoom soon :)

Hello Circle K!

So many awesome things have been happening across our organization this past month For one, we hosted an extremely successful INSIGHT with over 90 attendees. Not only did we exceed our attendance goal, but it was really amazing to see you all come together, bond with each other, and develop relationships with clubs outside your own. I cannot thank the Conventions and Conferences Chair, Sarah, and her committee enough for their extremely hard work and dedication. It was an incredibly successful event I have no doubt that we are helping to develop future district leaders, and create lifelong connections in the process Oh and Team Hawaii Volcanoes FTW.

Aside from INSIGHT, we have also started our formal dues collection for the year. I’m happy to report that we currently have 222 members in the system, and that Rowan University is at the highest with 92 members! I’m extremely proud of the work our clubs have been doing to recruit and retain new and old members, and a big welcome to the new members joining us. Don’t forget! Recruitment does not stop with the end of the Fall Semester. I have been working with our Membership Development and Education Chair, Emma, to develop a Club Recruitment Challenge for the Spring Semester where your clubs can go against each other to recruit the most dues paid members. I have been working with her to develop a resources packet for navigating recruitment, spring involvement fairs, and tips on retaining new members. The District Board will also be filming a video to be distributed to you all that will be useful for recruitment and first meetings. Let’s keep sharing our club’s message and what we all get to do together to find people looking for an opportunity like this to be a part of. Alright, that’s all from me! I cannot wait to keep seeing and meeting you all throughout the remainder of this service year. You, our members, make this club what it is, and I am so incredibly grateful to be a part of it. As always, reach out if you have questions, suggestions, or just wanna chat :)

Yours in Service, Leadership, and Fellowship, Katie

What It's Like: District Board What It's Like: District Board

What needs to be done daily?

Communication and being a resource to my clubs is a very large part of my daily work as an LTG. I check emails and texts very often, with text messaging being my preferred platform of communication for any urgent questions, requests, or sharing quick news with an individual. When more than one person is involved in a message, I tend to use email Because texts reach me the quickest, I made sure to inform the Club Officers in my division, District Officers, and the Metro Division Zone Advisor during our first interactions that they should text me if they ever need me. When a Club President has questions about a District event, resources they need, or anything CKI related, they almost always send me a text and I try to respond as soon as I possibly can. Likewise, when I have urgent questions for them or if I have information I’d like to quickly share, I also send a text message Moral of the story is that if you need me, send me a text

What is done weekly, and/or the planning of your week in general?

Google Calendar is truly my best friend. At the beginning of every week, I have at least one CKI related meeting. Whether it’s a one on one with our Metro Division Zone Advisor, one on one with Club Presidents, executive board meetings with clubs that may need more assistance, District committees or board meetings, or going to events and general body meetings from one of the Metro Division clubs, my week always includes CKI Since I have other responsibilities outside of CKI, I like to use one calendar to see what is in store for my week in one page and to make planning easier. At the beginning of every week, I look at weekly emails sent by all the Metro Clubs to their general body that outline what they have planned and I make sure to put it in my calendar, whether I can attend or not just in case I’m available last minute or so that I can inform others who may be interested in attending. Every week, I do my best to plan accordingly by updating my calendar, write out agendas for meetings I’m holding, and attend CKI events if I’m available

What is done monthly?

The CKI Board Directives outline what each District Board Officer has to complete for that month. Truthfully, I don’t utilize this sheet as much as I should since I heavily rely on my own calendar (which I check on a daily basis). However, I do use the Directives to see what tasks our District Governor has assigned me and I put these tasks in my calendar I also hold one on ones and a large Metro Division Presidents meeting bimonthly with my Club Presidents, alternating each month For those meetings, I make sure to send out a When2Meet at least one week in advance and to plan an agenda before the meeting begins. A When2Meet is a site that allows all users with the link to input their availability for the days listed, which is very convenient for finding common times to hold meetings. It has definitely been a tool that I rely on since I first learned about it and a tool I will continue to use. At the end of every month, I also fill out a report form that highlights what events and meetings I’ve attended, who I’ve contacted, and the current status for each club in the Metro Division I also add personal goals or announcements that I would like to share to the District Board

District

What It's Like: District Board What It's Like: District Board

Leadership: As A District Board member, you'll get to experiance growth as a leader, especially so at District events. You'll impact each and every member you meet from across the NJ CKI District!

Service: As A District Board member, you'll get a chance to work on real, meaningful service that helps out the whole New Jersey CKI District. You'll work alongside some of the most passionate and knowledgeable people you'll meet, and you'll accomplish so much together!

Fellowship: You'll network and meet people from all across the NJ CKI District. Beyond that, you'll make memories and friendships from your many interactions at the club, district, and international level. You'll truly be inspired and inspire others!

Volleyball Event Recap Volleyball Event Recap District

The Spooky Volleyball Tournament was a great fundraising event that should not have been missed! Despite taking a huge loss on the district team (1-15) and ruining a great pair of leggings from sliding all over the place trying to get the ball, I had such an amazing time and would do it all again. It was engaging for people of all athletic abilities since there were fun things going on between the games. The pizza and candy was a great perk of this event as well. The fundraising events/ games between the volleyball rounds was a great ideaespecially for those who were there to observe or got out super early. I personally liked the game where I had to use a skeleton hand to carry a ping pong eyeball to a bucket blindfolded, but the mummy wrap race was a very close second to being my favorite in between event. Overall, Rowan did a fantastic job and I look forward to the next district event.

-District Treasurer, Emily Scarborough

This year, the K-Fam Committee is once again holding a series of Key to College Webinars via Zoom to help Key Clubbers with their college application process! So far, we have held 2 Key to College Workshops at Key Club’s Fall Regional Training Conferences and 1 Key to College Webinar in October. We already covered topics like “Day in the Life of a College Student”, “Scholarships”, and “Early vs. Regular Decision”. Coming up on November 17th, we are holding a Study Hall/Essay Help Webinar and later on this year we will be holding more study halls along with a “GPA vs. Extracurriculars” Workshop. To end the series off, we will be inviting NJ CKI Alumni to join us for our K-Fam Panel “Where College Can Take You”, on February 16th. If you are interested in getting more involved with the Key to College Webinar Series or the K Fam Committee or have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me, K Fam Committee Chair Natasha at natashaiqbal.cki@gmail.com. Be sure to be on the lookout for more information regarding networking opportunities at our upcoming Winter Leadership Conference, where we will be hosting an Alumni Luncheon! Attendees of the conference will get the chance to talk to NJ CKI Alumni about their career and Kiwanis experience, and have the opportunity to network with professionals in many fields. More information to come

-Natasha

Iqbal, District Secretary & Kiwanis Family Relations Chair

Insight Recap Insight Recap

This year at Insight we had close to 100 attendees between Circle K members and Kiwanians! With such a large number of attendees we were able to get a lot of service done and fundraise for a great cause. This year our service project entailed cleaning the windows of the dining hall and moving large pieces of tree branches to the woods. Circle K members got into the spirit of service and made a huge dent in the pile of branches that the camp needed our assistance with moving and the windows sparkled when we ate in the dining hall the next day. Our district fundraiser was also a huge success on Sunday and we were able to fundraise several hundred dollars for the Brick by Brick initiative through pieing our district board members in the face.

My favorite part of Insight this year was the team building games! I really enjoyed getting to put together and run an escape room but what I enjoyed even more was hearing about how much everyone enjoyed all the other games and what they learned from each activity. The team building games are always such a wonderful start to Saturday and I was so happy to hear that they went over well with all the attendees and were enjoyable and eye opening.

Insight is the perfect event to foster fellowship amongst the district because it allows you to interact with so many members outside of your home club while also continuing to develop bonds with the people in your clubs. There is something so special about the energy and experiences you make at Insight that I think everyone should get to experience at least once during their time in Circle K.

-Sarah Harvey, Conventions & Conferences Chair.

Insight Recap Photos Insight Recap Photos

We had such an amazing time together at INSIGHT, and thats all because of you all!

Between our teambonding, games, our cleanup service project, and our whipped cream pie fundraiser, it was an unmissable event. Thanks again Sarah Harvey for all the hard work!

Member Spotlight Member Spotlight

Name: Arwa Muhamed

Class Year: Class of 2025

Position: Social Chair

Major: Molecular and Cellular Biology Arwa has been one of the most reliable, dedicated, and instrumental components of the Rowan CKI Committee. Arwa currently serves as our Social Chair and served as our Service Chair last year. In both positions, she not only succeeded in her responsibilities, but excelled in them, proving time and time again how committed she is to leadership, fellowship, and service. I always have confidence in Arwa to independently plan events, just as she did with our most recent Stockton-Rowan Interclub. Although planning interclub events does not directly fall under Arwa’s position, she stepped up when needed without complaint. Arwa is an extremely creative person, so I did not doubt that she would plan something fun for this event. From decorating cupcakes to watching Shrek, the interclub was constantly filled with laughs and new friendships being made. I am so grateful to have someone like her on the committee, and I cannot wait to see all the amazing things she does next year!

International Service Initiatives International Service Initiatives

WASH Project

CKI is excited to continue WASH, its signature project in partnership with UNICEF USA. WASH the collective term for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene aims to provide education, awareness and funding to supply clean drinking water and sanitation education to schools and children in underdeveloped regions.

Childhood Development

CKI members are committed to preparing children of all backgrounds to grow into caring members to grow into caring members of the global community.

Love Letters for Literacy promotes literacy development. Clubs can create card kits with each letter of the alphabet depicted. The kits are then distributed to local schools or childcare centers usually in low income areas

Environmental Justice

CKI members are passionate about combating the global climate crisis through advocacy, promotion of sustainable lifestyles, service projects and more. National CleanUp Day is an initiative of the larger non profit organization Clean Trails. Their goal is to get more people involved with cleaning up trash and litter, focusing on natural areas such as parks, beaches and hiking trails.

Food Insecurity and Homelessness

CKI members are dedicated to reducing food waste and contributing to the equitable distribution of food and shelter. The food Recovery Network combines fighting hunger and homelessness with eliminating waste. There are over 200 Chapters, with many on college campuses with CKI clubs.

Mental Health

CKI members are committed to promoting self-care while spreading awareness and breaking down stigmas about mental health issues. Active Minds is changing the conversation about mental health. Chapters can be found on more than 550 college campuses. They have a variety of programming events and awareness activities.

International Service Partners International Service Partners

Active Minds is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults. Powered by a network on more than 800 high school and college campuses, in workplaces and communities, and through a vast public audience, Active Minds is creating communities of support and saving lives.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more.

Global Brigades is an international nonprofit offers Circle K members with affordable service opportunities to volunteer virtually from home or abroad to make a meaningful impact in under served communities through health and economic development programming.

Brick X Brick Project Brick X Brick Project

Circle K International is thrilled to announce a new project, in partnership with UNICEF USA, that we ’ re calling Brick X Brick. We’ll be building a sustainable future through education and empowerment for families in the African nation of Côte d’Ivoire.

UNICEF has partnered with a Colombian, family-run social enterprise, Conceptos Plasticos, to create a women-led recycling market that will convert Côte d’Ivoire’s plastic waste into safe and durable low-cost building materials. The money you raise will help women create recycling networks to collect plastic waste that will be manufactured into bricks. These bricks will be used to build classrooms for some of the 1.6 million children mostly girls who are currently out of school in Côte d’Ivoire. It doesn’t stop there. Through your support, teachers will be trained, be provided with school supplies and have access to improved hygiene and infection prevention and control.

Thanks to you, children will grow up healthier and better educated. We hope your club will join in this exciting project.

Brick X Brick: What It Means Brick X Brick: What It Means

As a future educator myself, I think it’s a fantastic service initiative that is needed now, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Children have been struggling with education since virtual learning, so it’s imperative that we raise money for this amazing cause. Every child should have a right to education and the knowledge of learning, so NJ Circle K is ready to raise a lot of money for Brick X Brick. Many clubs throughout NJ Circle K have held fundraisers to help raise money. Rutgers CKI has held a bake sale to help raise money, and Circle K International recently participated in a Bricks Got Talent contest, in which the International Board decorated Bricks to look like celebrities and CKI members had to vote on their favorite. NJ Circle K also held a pie the district board fundraiser, in which we were able to raise over $500 dollars for Brick X Brick. Check out the Circle K International website (https://www.circlek.org/service/brick-x-brick/#resources) for more information on this new service initiative and resources to help raise money with your club.

-Matthew Yuro, Seabreeze Division LTG

Executive Board

The New Jersey Contact The New Jersey

District Governor

Katie Lynch, katielynch.cki@gmail.com

District Secretary

Natasha Iqbal, natashaiqbal.cki@gmail.com District Treasurer

Emily Scarborough, emilyscarborough.cki@gmail.com District Editor

William King, williamking.cki@gmail.com

Seabreeze

Matthew Yuro, Matthew Yuro, matthewyuro.cki@gmail.com matthewyuro.cki@gmail.com

Metro Division LTG Metro Division LTG

Meciel Guisihan, Meciel Guisihan, mecielguisihan.cki@gmail.com mecielguisihan.cki@gmail.com

Garden

Moujnir Lewis, Moujnir Lewis, moujnirlewis.cki@gmail.com moujnirlewis.cki@gmail.com

Kiwanis Family Relations Chair

Natasha Iqbal, natashaiqbal.cki@gmail.com Laws, Regulations, & Awards Chair

Ben Yandel, benyandel.cki@gmail.com Service Chair

William King, williamking.cki@gmail.com

Technology Chair

Joseph Rivera, josephrivera.cki@gmail.com

Circle K District Board Circle K District Board

Committee Chairs Kiwanis Committee

Membership & Development Chair

Emma

Sarah Harvey, sarahharvey.cki@gmail.com

District Administrator

Mike

Mickey Cohen, mickeyrc.cki@gmail.com

Micheal

Sharon Daubenspeck, sharon.daubenspeck@gmail.com

Created by New Jersey Circle K District Editor, William King