June Newsletter

KEY CLUB NEW YORK DISTRICT KEY CLUB Lieutenant Governor Shellee Wong

Division 7

Lucky 7 Greetings from your Lieutenant Governor By Lieutenant Governor Shellee Wong

As we start off another great year of service, I am excited to serve as your Lieutenant Governor for Division 7 Key Club of the Mighty New York District. Each and every club in the division has their own specific and unique events that they work on, but I challenge you and your clubs to invite the other clubs of Division 7 to your service projects and activities. We all want a stronger division this year and I encourage all of you to attend as many divisional meetings as possible because you will make new friends and meet tons of other Key Clubbers that are just as thrilled as you are in being a part of this amazing organization!

We want to keep in mind the “theme” for this year- “The sky is the limit, so reach for the stars”. Each club should be planning out the goals that you want to achieve and perhaps even surpass. One thing I really want to stress this year is the importance of being involved with the sponsoring Kiwanis Clubs! They are extremely supportive and so you should start getting to know the Kiwanians of the sponsoring Kiwanis better. They are a really awesome crew of people who have the same intentions you haveserving the community to the best of their ability. Invite them to your meetings, your events, projects, and activities and attend their meetings and events. Fundraise for the charities that they operate like KAMP KIWANIS. Key Club is fun and as long as you are actively involved, you will end up loving it; hopefully as much as I am obsessed with it. So if you ever want to email or call me to tell me how much you love Key Club or even if you have any questions regarding

June 10, 2009 Volume 1 Issue 1

In this issue! Greetings from Your Lieutenant Governor……..…1 Governor’s Greeting from Allen Yu………………….2 Executive Assistant Stephanie Springer’s Intro...…2 Paperwork, Dues, & International Projects...……...3 Key Club Crossword Puzzle & Word Scramble…..4 Service Spotlight Submissions for Empire Key …..5 The New York District Key Club Online……………5 Branches of the K-Family……………………………..….5 Governor’s Project………………………………………….6 The “New” Advocacy and District Projects……...….6 Distinguished Key Clubber………………………………7 Important Dates & Contact Information....……….7 Division Service Spotlight and Events Collage……8 Key Club, know that I’ll be all ears! I get really excited when I get Key Club mail or phone calls. I look forward to seeing you all again soon and I wish you all the very best of luck on your final exams. YAY for summer being here soon!

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Governor’s Greeting By Governor Allen Yu Can you believe it has already been two months since our Leadership Training Conference? I can remember as vividly as if it were yesterday your utter enthusiasm for another spectacular year, and I have no doubt that we have the potential to reach and exceed all of our goals. For the past few months, your District Board has been working hard to plan all the activities this year. We have approved a new Governor’s Project (Our World – Our Focus), chosen our new District Project charities, set new goals for our Governor’s, District, and International Projects, planned and organized for divisional meetings, revamped much of the paperwork, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! You should be receiving an issue of your Lt. Governor’s newsletter (what you’re reading right now) each month, which will enable you to be more informed and involved on your Division and District levels of Key Club. In addition, each month, you will be receiving an issue of my newsletter – the Governor’s Notebook. You will be receiving that newsletter along with many other great resources from the New York District Electronic Mailing List, so if you’re not a subscriber yet, please sign up at www.nydkc.org (the link is on the right-hand side of the homepage). You will also find many great things on our website, so please visit often. In a week or two, the first set of brand new club resources (ranging informational flyers to leadership building trainings) will be finalized. They will be uploaded to the Resources/Paperwork section of our website as well as sent to the subscribers of the mailing list. Keep your eyes open for theses amazing resources! If there’s anything I can help you with over the year, pleased don’t hesitate to send me an email; I love hearing from you! I hope you have a great end of the school year, and happy June!

Executive Assistant’s Intro and Duties

leadership

inclusiveness

caring

By Stephanie Springer

Each year the newly elected District Governor responsibilities throughout the year. This year, New York Because the Governor to our Mighty New York District is located in Albany, he chose one Executive Assistant from the Buffalo area, named Alex Ladas, and another from Long Island, named Stephanie Springer. Throughout the year it is the responsibility of Stephanie and Alex to assist the Governor in his plentiful duties, to attend divisional and meetings in their respective areas to represent him to New York District’s Key Clubbers, and to help the members of the New York District in any way they can. Each Executive Assistant corresponds to their respective areas. Stephanie Springer is responsible to assist divisions one through thirteen, and Alex Ladas is responsible for divisions thirteen through twenty six. Both Executive Assistants will work tirelessly throughout the year to attend as many divisional within these areas as possible, to help the Lt. Governors in any way they can, and most importantly, to assist the New York District Governor in any way he needs. Both Stephanie and Alex are incredibly enthusiastic and eager to serve as a part of the 2009-2010 New York District Board and to assist the district, the board, and the governor in any way possible.

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Paperwork By District Secretary Eli Kozin For the average Key Clubber, the only time that they hear of paperwork is at District Leadership Training Conference, usually in the speeches for District Secretary. I would like to bring paperwork to a more understandable and accessible level, starting right here, right now. Election Report Forms: This is the single biggest piece of paperwork that the District needs. Each club should have sent in this form, which simply asks the contact information for the school, newly elected officers, and advisors. This information is complied into a Directory that will be made available to the District Board by July 1, so that communication is possible within the District. The due date for Election Report Forms (ERFs) has already passed, so if your club has yet to send it in, they should do so immediately. For clubs that hold elections in the fall, they should send in an ERF with the current (outgoing officers) now, and then send a revised ERF with the new officers, which will be adapted in an update of the Directory. Monthly Report Forms: Although ERFs are the single most important piece of paperwork, the combination of the 13 Monthly Report Forms (MRFs) that clubs should submit during the 2009-2010 year make up the foundation for a successful year of service. Each club should submit an MRF by the seventh of each month for the preceding month. MRFs are absolutely imperative: without them, the District would be unaware of what the clubs are up to, and fail to be a cohesive District, but rather a group of clubs with certain geographical boundaries. Behind the scenes, each MRF goes through a thorough organization and cataloguing process, both digitally and physically. This way, there is a running count of not only how much money has been raised and how many service hours completed, but also which clubs have handed in required paperwork. All of the paperwork is available online, at www.nydkc.org. MRFs can even be submitted online. All questions and comments will be fielded at [email protected]. Please do not hesitate to ask a question or give a suggestion. Until next time, you stay classy, New York District.

Where does my due go to? By District Treasurer Teri Bunce

Paying dues is an important part of being a Key Clubber. Some may wonder where exactly their money goes. Currently, International Dues are $6.50, and each District has their own dues respectively. The entire Key Cluborganization is funded by Dues, which support things such as, the Youth Opportunity Funds, the Key Clubber Magazine, and Kamp Kiwanis. It is extremely important that all Key Clubbers pay dues, ON TIME, in order to keep the Key Club organization alive and prospering.

International Projects and Programs By Lt. Governor Alex Farrington My name is Alex Farrington, and I am humbled to say that I am the new chair for International Projects and Programs. This year we are very eager to motivate the New York District to raise money and hours for UNICEF, Children’s Miracle Network, March of Dimes, and Live 2 Learn. The goals for this year are: UNICEF, $25,000; Children’s Miracle Network, $7,000; March of Dimes, $7,000; Live to Learn, 7,500 hours. If half of the members in New York State volunteer just thirty minutes or raise just fifty cents, then these goals will be easily attainable. This Key Club year we are planning many fun and exciting activities. We are thinking things from hospital balloon tosses for Children’s Miracle Network and mentoring for Live 2 Learn, to penny wars for March of Dimes and water-tapping projects for UNICEF. I have confidence that this year will be great, and with your help, I know it will!

First Key Clubber to email me the answers to the entire puzzle will receive a prize at the next divisional meeting! Across 1. The month of the Early Bird Deadline 4. College K-Family counterpart 6. event with usually 3 to 4 divisions involved and includes officer and member training 8. The Kiwanis-related District Project whose importance was emphasized at the 2nd divisional meeting 10. a meeting of all the clubs in Division 7 11. Lieutenant Governor Shellee's favorite color 12. The award every Key Clubber should be applying for this year Down 2. newsletter for the New York District 3. The state where International Convention 2009 is held 5. District Project this year where you can collect pop tabs for it 7. number of members required to be a Key Club 9. due the 7th of each month for the preceding month's events

Unscramble all of the Key Club-related words and see how many you can get! First Key Clubber to email me with the answers to this word scramble will get to choose what puzzles go in this section for the next newsletter!

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“Service Spotlight” Submissions for Empire Key and the website By District Editor Mandy Wong

As the International Convention (ICON) is getting closer, the first edition of the Empire Key will be soon be published. The Empire Key is the official magazine of the New York District and is released four times a year, one for each season. The Empire Key will inform key clubbers in the district about the events and projects that are happening and helpful tips on improving theclub. The Empire Key is a great way to show off successful service projects. There is a section called “Service Spotlight” which is designated for clubs to show off their projects and events. If you think your club has a done a great service project, go onto www.nydkc.org to fill out the Empire Key submission form or email me at [email protected] to submit your article. Your article may even appear on the New York District Website at www.nydkc.org. So don’t wait, submit an article! If you have any questions at all, contact me at [email protected].

Check out Gavin’s latest video on the New York District website! [www.nydkc.org] ***If you have not already done so, please also take a minute to subscribe to the District Mailing List.

New York District Key Club Online By District Webmaster Victor Ma The New York District website, www.nydkc.org, is your onestop resource to almost everything Key Club related. District projects, district committees, and email contacts for your lieutenant governors have been updated. Remember to sign up for the New York District Key Club mailing list if you haven't done so! Simply click on the link in the right sidebar and fill out the form to receive email updates from Governor Allen Yu. A new feature of the site is NYDKC TV, available at http://nydkc.org/projects/nydkc-tv. Directed by Gavin Huang, these videos are intended to inform members about district projects. It may be a good idea to show these at your meeting or divisional! To download the video, email me at [email protected]. Look out for a commenting feature and a way to share your ideas and multimedia soon! I would like to reactivate the service spotlight section of our site, so if you've done a service project that you would like to share, email me a summary of the event, accompanied with photos (or maybe even a video)! It will be featured on the front page of the website for all to see. Submission of a service spotlight article is also one of the additional criteria for Distinguished Key Clubber, so you'll be on your way. If you have any website or tech-related questions, feel free to email me at [email protected], and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Enjoy your summer. Have a great time!

Branches of the Kiwanis Family

By Lt. Governors Devan Farrell and Billy Fletcher Did you know the Key Club has a family of organizations? Key Club is part of the K-Family, a group of organizations, all dedicated to community service, and bettering the community around us. The Kiwanis Family Relations Committee is designed to educate, improve, and strengthen the Key Club relationships with all the members of the K-Family. There are six members of the KiwanisFamily, Kiwanis, Aktion Club, Circle K, Key Club, Builders Club, and K- Kids. All of the members of the family promote leadership, and community service. Kiwanis is the adult level of Key Club and is considered the parent organization. Circle K International is the college level, while Builders Club is the middle school organization created for service. K- Kids is the elementary level of Key Club, and also promotes caring in the community. Aktion Club was developed for the handicapped members of the community, and they as well promote caring acts throughout their area. However the most important thing is that all the branches of the Kiwanis Family work together to promote the central idea of community, and caring for those around you. This year it is important that the New York District Key Club incorporates all of the members of the Kiwanis Family for support and guidance. Be sure to look for the Kiwanis Family Relations Committee’s goals for the upcoming key club year in the next edition of the Empire Key.

Governor’s Project- “Our World-Our Focus”

The “New” Advocacy

By Lt. Governor Jillian Harmon

Did you know that there are 14,000 Key Club members in the New York District alone? We’re proudly one of the largest mighty Key Club districts in the country! You may be asking yourself “How can I make a difference out of these thousands of committed members?” Well, thankfully, it’s as easy as one hour of your time, dedicated to fighting hunger or helping the environment! This year, the Governors Project for the 20092010 service year is proudly named “Our World – Our Focus”, a two-part initiative focusing on the issues of hunger and the protection of natures treasures. During the year, there are hundreds of projects that can be completed and every member can do their part, volunteering at a soup kitchen or dedicating time to clean up a local park. With our goal of 14,000 hours, each member only needs to commit one hour of his or her time to make this year’s Governors Project an astounding success. So, on a final note, the New York District invites you to make “Our World- Our Focus”. Shaping our world- one day, one hour, and one moment at a time.

By Lt. Governor Olivia McCook As the 2008-2009 school year ends, our Key Club year is just beginning. For our 20092010 Key Club year, the Advocacy Committee has changed things up, hopefully making it easier for everyone to understand. First of all, everyone needs to have a basic understanding of what advocacy is. Advocacy is a tool citizens use to make a change within their community, state, or nation. In the past, we have only had the district send out letters with a goal of 2,000 or so letters. This year we have made up a point system and introduced many new ideas. Some of our new ideas include holding events. Events could be a great way to promote an issue. An example of an event would be, standing outside a local store informing your community about the issue and hopefully getting them to help you out with petitions or writing letters. You can also plan an event focusing on an issue or a few issues; you’d be surprised how many people in your community really do care. So in addition to adding events we have introduced a point system. Each letter you send in will result in one point. Each signature on a petition will also result in one point, and each out of service will result in 5 points. We are very excited working towards our goal.

District Projects By Lt. Governor Jennifer Kramer With the school year coming to an end, make sure to take some time between studying for finals and to support our new District Projects! This year’s District Projects are: Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Center, Kamp Kiwanis, Local Causes, Save the Music Foundation, Pediatric Lyme Disease Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Our fundraising goal for this year is $175,000, and I know that with the Mighty New York District’s hard work and dedication, we can meet and exceed our goal! Let’s aim to raise as much as possible for these incredible organizations! Since the weather is great this time of year, consider taking advantage of the many fun and easy outdoor fundraising possibilities. For instance, your club can organize a car wash to support one of this year’s District Projects! Each and every member can make a difference and support our District Projects. Suggest fundraising ideas to your club, and make sure to report all of the money you raise on your forms so that it counts towards our District total. To help you this year, Governor Allen and the District Project Committee worked hard to create informational flyers and resources for you, which will be available on our website in a few weeks. If you have any questions, comments or ideas, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]. Have fun fundraising!

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Distinguished Key Clubber By Lt. Governor Shellee Wong

With the new District Projects this year and the announcement of Governor Allen’s “Our World – Our Focus” Governor’s Project, I’m sure your Key Club has a lot of events already planned out. As a Key Clubber, you should be putting forth your best effort to attend all of the events. Attending divisional meetings, participating in service projects, and fundraising money for our eight District Projects this year are just a few criteria that the Distinguished Key Clubber Committee is looking for. The Distinguished Key Clubber Award is presented each year to those Key Clubbers who perform a tremendous amount of service, and to those who serve their home, school, and communities to their best abilities. We’re already two months in to the service year. So if you have not participated in any events yet, start getting to it. This year’s application for the DKC Award will be based on a points system and therefore, the more projects you part-take in, the more points you will accumulate. The application will be on the District website soon, but for now, you can get the DKC Early Checklist from your respective Lieutenant Governors. Our District Goal for the number of Distinguished Key Clubber applications is 400. The DKC Committee hopes to see every Key Clubber in the district to apply. As long as you follow along with the checklist and stay active in your club’s events, you’ll soon be rewarded for your hard work. Our committee is looking to recognize you as a 20092010 Distinguished Key Clubber!

Contact Information New York District Board      

Governor Allen Yu

Division 7 

[email protected]

Secretary Eli Kozin [email protected]

Treasurer Teri Bunce [email protected]

Editor Mandy Wong [email protected]

Webmaster Victor Ma

 

[email protected]

Executive Assistant Stephanie Springer [email protected]

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Lieutenant Governor Shellee Wong [email protected] (516) 355 8023 765 Hastings Street Baldwin, NY 11510 Division Executive Assistant Max Simon [email protected] Division Webmaster Dylan Gross [email protected] Kiwanis Committee Member Mrs. Ovadia [email protected] (516) 698 2863

Important Dates/Upcoming Events June 6  Oceanside’s Relay for Life June 7  Scleroderma Walk  Monthly Report Forms DUE! June 13  East Rockaway’s Huckleberry Frolic  Baldwin’s Relay for Life  Baldwin’s “Walk in the Woods” June 26  Club Events Report DUE July 7  Monthly Report Forms DUE July 12  Baldwin’s BCC Annual Summer Picnic July 16  Divisional Meeting  Officers Council Meeting

Reminders: Submit Articles and Pictures of your Club’s projects to: District Editor Mandy Wong ([email protected]) District Webmaster Victor Ma ([email protected]) Visit the New York District Key Club website at www.nydkc.org

Send this newsletter to all the Key Clubbers you know!

Check out the Division 7 website for updates and more at www.nydkeyclubdivision7.tk

SERVICE SPOTLIGHT Baldwin Key Club’s Brookside Preserve Clean-Up By Gretchen Sandberg On April 19th, 2009, anyone walking through the Brookside Preserve would’ve remarked, “Wow. Lots of kids. Plastic bags. Lots of garbage. Girl with her shoe off, foot bleeding. Must be some kind of…like…cleanup?” And he or she would’ve been exactly right. Baldwin Key Club joined with the Autobaun Society to clear this potentially gorgeous area of undeveloped land. Our efforts cleared the Preserve of the countless bottles, plastic wraps, roof shingles, and other horrible garbage, to make room for the animals that naturally live there. Now the animals can enjoy their clean habitat, and the people can enjoy and learn from nature once more. The “kids” were Key Club kids. We filled huge black plastic bags with garbage. And the only casualty was LTG of District 7, Shellee Wong, who got a puncture wound in her foot while cleaning. =( Other than that, it was a productive and fulfilling event. We hope to continue working with our local Preserve in the future, making it safe for future generations to enjoy.

Here are just some of the events our division has participated in. Want to see your photos here for the next newsletter? Take pictures at all of your events and send them to me!

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