NYDKC Division Nine November Newsletter

MAKING A CHAN9E

Volume II | Issue VI | November 2017

Lieutenant Governor Patricia Ahmed Executive Assistant Josephine Wu Kiwanis Committee Representative Leonard Gioia

Table of Contents Lieutenant Governor's Greeting.................................4 Executive Assistant's Greeting....................................5 Social Media

○ Division 9..................................................................6 ○ NYDKC.....................................................................7 Sunrise Day Camp: Patrick's Story..............................8 70th Annual Leadership Training Conference.............9 9iving Thanks..............................................................10 Key Club during the Holidays.....................................12 Past Events

○ Divisions 8-13 Fall Rally...........................................14 ○ Service Spotlights...................................................18 Form Submissions......................................................21 Contact Information.................................................22

Upcoming Events December 8th: Children's Holiday Party December 9th: NYCMT Winter Quarterly Gathering

December 9th: St. Nicholas Shopping Day December 16th: Operation Christmas Smiles March 23rd - 25th, 2018: 70th Annual Leadership Training Conference (LTC)

Reminders ○ MRFs are due the 10th of every month! ○ FRFs are due ASAP after every fundraiser!

Lieutennt Governor's Greeting Happy November Sharks!

Despite our usual correlation of Thanksgiving to the month of November, it was also a time of Key Club promotion through Key Club Week, and collaboration through Kiwanis Family Month. Not to mention-it was also our annual Divisions 8-13 Fall Rally! Although it was tedious to plan along with the rest of the Lieutenant Governors, it was extremely rewarding to see what we had worked so hard to plan finally happen before our eyes. In the end, we raised $2,070, which will all be going to UNICEF. Besides gathering to attend workshops to expand Key Club knowledge, members also grew their passion for service through making friendships and memories to last a lifetime. For some of us, it takes this month to really reflect on what has been given to us, and the everyday luxuries we take for granted. Access to clean drinking water or mere health status is something we don't always acknowledge and appreciate, but it is definitely something to always keep in mind even beyond this month of giving. It is especially amazing to be apart of an organization where members dedicate their time to serving others.

Hopefully, the next time when you are serving someone who is less priveleged than you are, remind yourself of how lucky you actually are, and let these experiences add meaning to your work.

Happy Key Clubbing!

Patricia Ahmed Division Nine Lieutenant Governor

Executive Assistant's Greeting Greetings Sharks!

November is always an eventful month, with it being Kiwanis Family Month. It is also the time of Key Club Week, Fall Rally, and Thanksgiving. It's a month to come together and give thanks. One of the many reasons why I decided to join, and remain in Key Club was because volunteering in my community gave me joy and hope in a world full of tragedy and despair. I'd constantly hear about new conflicts and innocent lives being lost, so much that I'd rather be uninformed about current events than to know and bring me down. Key Club gave me a new outlook on things, and made me feel like I had a degree of control when it came to my actions in my community. It also reminded me to not take all the privileges I have for granted, and be grateful for the people I'm surrounded by. I hope that this club has helped you think differently and push to become a better, caring individual.

Josephine Wu Division Nine Executive Assistant

Division 9 Social Media

NYDKC Social Media

Sunrise Day Camp: Patrick's Story When your child has been diagnosed with cancer your life will never be the same.

You have your life before and then a new life after. Things that seemed important prior seem so trivial when you have a child fighting for their life.”

Meet Patrick, a camper at Sunrise Day Camp-Long Island. At 7-years- old, Patrick loves to dance and has a wonderful personality that could brighten anyone’s day. As his counselors at Sunrise will tell you, Patrick’s “energy is contagious…he radiates happiness and is a welcoming friend to anyone he speaks to.”

In 2012, Patrick’s parents received the news no parent should ever have to hear; Patrick had masses on his lungs. Life became filled with tests, surgeries, biopsies and waiting. Patrick’s mom, Lisa, told Sunrise, “The waiting is torture… the anxiety…the stress…the worry. There are no words to truly describe the fear we felt.” A month later, at just 2 years of age, Patrick was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma and began the journey that would change his and his family’s life forever.

After 4 pathology tests and a failed steroid treatment, Patrick’s family brought him to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Hospital for a clinical trial chemotherapy treatment.

For 6 weeks, Patrick traveled from New York to Boston each week and continued the same trip every 28 days for over 2 years.

His parents were heartbroken seeing their happy little boy missing out on normal childhood experiences due to a compromised immune system that replaced days of playing and seeing friends with days of isolation.

Despite multiple families telling them how wonderful Sunrise was, Patrick’s parents were nervous to send him to camp. It would be their first time separated and he was still undergoing treatment. Their fears went away when they were immediately embraced into the Sunrise Day Camp Family. Patrick’s parents watched him have fun in a safe environment, giving him a break from the hospital and allowing him to just be a kid. As his mom tells us, “The kindness, love, and compassion shown not only to Patrick but all the children is priceless!” Patrick’s cheerful demeanor and his family’s positivity carried him through 2

½ years on the clinical trial

chemotherapy, and while the long-term effects of his treatment are unknown, Patrick continues to show no evidence of cancer over 2 years later off treatment. While he continues to be monitored closely by his doctors, Patrick also continues to attend Sunrise Day Camp, where he is an all-star camper - leading cheers, playing in the pool, laughing and having fun. Patrick’s family writes “We feel so blessed to have our Sunrise family in our life. We will always be forever grateful and there are no words to truly express how thankful we are.”

YOU'RE INVITED TOÂ THE

70th Annual Leadership Training Conference MARCH 23RD - 25TH,2018 | THE DESMOND HOTEL | ALBANY, NY

9iving Thanks What are you 9rateful for?

All the friends I’ve made in Key Club from my school, my district, and other districts.

- District Treasurer Matthew Portnoy

- I'm 9rateful for so many things in my life, from my parents to my friends to key club to my school (despite how much I dread the workload) and so much more. I think it's important to realize, and I constantly remind myself of this from time to time, that I should never take what I have for granted. I complain A LOT about everything but there is always someone out there who has it worse than you, so I'm always aware and counting my blessings because looking at the positive always counters the negatives.

My parents have been my support system since the day I was born. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't even be able to list any of the other things I'm grateful for. After them, I'm grateful for all of my friends. The ones from key club, to the ones from summer programs, to the ones I've made at school, and so on. All of them have contributed to me and my unique self, so for that I am extremely thankful for. And the last two, certainly not the least, are Key Club and my school. Both go hand in hand, I would say, in creating my life experiences at the very moment in high school. Because of my school, I am constantly challenged every day and pushing myself to the limit, learning to disregard any obstacles along the way. My school has also exposed me to many clubs, and of course my favorite being Key Club. After having Key Club enter my life, I've gained a new outlook on community and helping others. It has fostered a sense of caring and hard workingness within me. All of these things, when I think about them together really makes me think about how I live a very privileged and amazing life and how I wouldn't trade it for anything. With all the love and support from each thing I listed, I am who I am today, and I'm forever 9rateful. - Ayan Rahman, Brooklyn Tech Editor

I am most grateful for my officers who are always there by my side giving encouragement and amazing support. I couldn't have had better friends ensuring that our Key Club stays golden!

- Elizabeth Dosman, James Madison President

To start off, I am thankful for my fellow officers and our advisor, Ms. Haney.

Throughout the past few months, we have overcome many obstacles together and bonded through them. We have formed a friendship that I will never forget. Even though there were times where things were difficult, we always had fun together during our club meetings and board meetings. Thank you for your dedication to our club!! I am glad that I was able to spend my last year in Key Club with you guys! :) I am also super thankful for our members. Thank you guys for attending our meetings every Tuesday and spending your weekends/ holiday break to serve our community!

Without you guys, there would be no Midwood Key Club!!! I hope you guys had fun and made new memories with each other at our events! There is more to come :) I am extremely thankful to be a part of Key Club for the last four years. All of you have given me an experience of a lifetime that I will never forget. Throughout these years, I have learned a lot and made many of new friends. I have learned the values of our actions and created new memories while serve our community. I am really going to miss all of this after I graduate! :( - Tiffany Yong, Midwood Vice President

I'm thankful for the care and support from my family and friends!! Also, I'm grateful for the work and

I'm grateful and thankful for this club. I've been able to meet amazing people and learn about the little things that matter. I've learned that doing

care we all have put into

good for others is really what

Key Club trying in every bit

brightens the world and even

to make this world a better place!!!! Seeing Key Clubbers' care really put

people who'd never see eye to eye with each other can come together and have fun. But most of all, I'm grateful for this club

meaningfulness to my job!

because I've been able to form

Overall, I'm grateful for

connections with people I

everything!!

- QIan Ting Chen, Brooklyn Tech Secretary

thought I'd never been able to.

So, thank you!

- Shabraiz Malik, Midwood

Key Club During the Holidays

Unsure of how to continue service through the holiday season? Here's some ideas: Host a toy drive! (Hint: partner with an organization or your sponsoring Kiwanis club!)

Start a coat drive!

Volunteer a local soup kitchen!

Create Christmas/holiday cards for children in hospitals!

Go caroling at a senior citizen center!

Go to an senior citizen center/assisted living facility and do Christmas crafts!

Make Christmas cheer care packages for homeless shelters!

Divisions 8-13 Fall Rally was AMAZING. This event reminded me of LTC and it was just as fun! I loved the games that we played, especially Rock Paper Scissors (I lost).

The workshops were just as great, and you could definitely tell that everybody worked hard to present and teach one another. I loved that Fall Rally was super professional, yet fun at the same time.

What really got me into the mood, was the “We have spirit� game. It reminded me all the fun parts of Key Club and the thundering spirit that everybody has.

Kathy Song President Brooklyn Technical High School

Fall Rally This year’s Fall Rally that was held at Stuyvesant on November 11th was one of my most memorable ones. It being my last one during the time of my high school career placed the pressure that it should be the best one. The huge amount of Key Clubbers that came to show their support was an amazing sight to see. Along with that, the endless boxes of pizza we went though showed just how many Key Clubbers came to support Divisions 8-13. Everyone could tell that this event took so much effort to plan and the vast amount of people that showed up and attended workshops showed their dedication to learn more about Key Club and its values. I personally had such a great time because I was able to build my relationship with other Key Clubbers around the city, as well as my own home club’s members. Fall Rally has left me wanting more and excited for the memories that I’m going make at the Leadership Training Conference.

Lilian Chen Treasurer Midwood High School

We

$2,0

raised 70!

Service Spotlights: What have we been up to?

Brooklyn Tech HS On Saturday, November 18th, Brooklyn Tech Key Club volunteered with United By Blue to help clean up the rocky coves of East River Park. Over seventy volunteers climbed over the fence and worked for two hours. They picked up trash such as bottles, plastic, and styrofoam, and helped in making the environment a cleaner place! The total amount of trash that was collected was 1,464 pounds!

Kyaw Naing Member

James Madison HS On December 1st, James Madison High School Key Club held a very special service event. With donated travel sized items such as shaving cream, candy, socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes and more, we created holiday themed gift bags for our American soldiers. It began with two ideas. One was collecting a few items for a teacher many students had, who is currently deployed into military service and the other idea was from the last newsletter. Since it had been KiwanisFamily Month, it was suggested that we could have a service project to help our troops. It simply clicked into my mind that Madison Key Club could help! With 2 weeks to donate items, and 3 weeks to make letters to our soldiers thanking them for their service, our 7th meeting was dedicated to creating these thoughtful surprise bags. At our meeting, we had the pleasure of Lieutenant Governor Mark Pohl and 3 of the Kings Plaza-Canarsie Members join us on this beautiful project. Club officers, special guests and members all came together to ensure every bag was carefully packaged. Together, we created many bagged items and by the morning of December 2nd, 3 entire boxes filled to the rim, were ready to be shipped off! I know this project meant so much to our students because it opened some of the members eyes how fun and fulfilling a small project can do. They knew in their hearts that what they were doing would brighten up a brave soldiers day.

Elizabeth Dosman President

Midwood HS The Project FIND event was great on a multitude of levels. To recap, on Thanksgiving, Midwood Key Club traveled to a church in Manhattan where people from various backgrounds found it in their hearts to pack meals for the elderly and disabled. On top of packing the meals, we had the pleasure of delivering these meals to the respective addresses. I personally delivered the meals with Secretary Josephine and Vice President Tiffany. Yes, the walking was daunting and I did complain; but it was well worth it to see the warm reactions of the meal recipients. There was one person that we delivered to who had a unique personality. The man, Mr. Johnson, had ultra-antiTrump posters on his door… and we didn’t know what to expect. To our surprise, Mr. Johnson was extremely friendly and was very grateful for us bringing him the food. After we finished delivering these meals and felt the love from the recipients… we (shout out to Josephine, Tiffany, Victor, Vivian, Justin, Benjamin, Carlos, Carmen, and Wendy) pulled up Dunkin and had a phenomenal time getting to know each other’s goals and aspirations. Overall, the event brought everyone closer together and truly makes Key Club, Key Club… furthermore, events like this, where we give back to the community that we adore so much, is what makes passion for service the epitome of Key Club.

I

❤ Key Club!

Jonathan Li Member

Form Submission

Contact Information

Happy Key Clubbing!