Kiwanis
Kiwanis is a worldwide service club organization with approximately 15,000 local clubs.
Goals and Activities
According to the company, its goals are charitable work for other people and friendship among the members. The clubs pursue projects at regional and local level to help other people, especially children.
history
On January 21, 1915, Allen Browne in Detroit founded the organization under the original name The Benevolent Order of Brothers . In the same year the name was changed to Kiwanis . The word is borrowed from an Indian language. "Nune-Kee-Wanis" means something like "expression of your own personality".
In 1916 the association laid down its principles, which emphasized, among other things, the priority of human and spiritual values over material interests. The motto “we build” was decided. This year was in Hamilton ( Canada , the first Kiwanis Club) outside the United States.
While other clubs sought international distribution over time, it was not until 1961 in Toronto that Kiwanis decided to spread the Kiwanis idea worldwide; therefore, outside of North America, the association now has fewer members than Rotary or Lions. In 1963 the first European club was founded in Vienna , and in the same year the first German club in Frankfurt am Main . After numerous clubs in different countries were established in Europe, Kiwanis International - European Foundation (KI-EF) was brought into being in 1968 .
The organization has also been accepting women since 1987. In 1998, the current motto “serving the children of the world” was adopted.
organization
Kiwanis is the third largest service club organization in the world, after Lions and Rotary . Their umbrella organization is Kiwanis International . Its headquarters are in Indianapolis . Kiwanis has 597,500 members (256,500 adults, 341,000 youths) in 80 countries (as of November 1, 2010), organized in 16,400 clubs (8,700 adult clubs, 7,700 youth clubs). In addition to men's clubs, there are women's and mixed clubs.
| Club name | number | Members | Membership structure, age groups | countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiwanis | 7,800 | 234.200 | Adults, 74% men, 26% women; Average age: 57 years |
80 |
| Circle-K | 500 | 12,700 | Students | 18th |
| Key Club | 5,000 | 260,000 | 14 to 18 years | 30th |
| Kiwanis Builders Club | 1,500 | 45,000 | 11 to 14 years | 18th |
| Kiwanis K-Kids | 1,200 | 36,000 | 6 to 12 years | 8th |
| Kiwanis Action Club | 400 | 9,600 | Adults with disabled children | 8th |
- (As of November 2010)
The Kiwanis European Foundation currently has 30,000 members. The European headquarters are located in Ghent ( Belgium ).
The German district consists of 150 clubs with around 3,500 members (as of August 2018). At the head of the district is the district governor, who is elected for a year. The German district is divided into four areas with a total of 21 divisions. The divisions are headed by divisions, the divisions are led by Lieut. Governors.
10 to 15 members are required to form a Kiwanis club. At the head of the club is the president, who is elected for one year, and next to it is the vice-president, a secretary (managing director) and a treasurer. Furthermore, there are so-called chairmen (speakers) who, as board members, are responsible for certain tasks (public relations, program design, etc.).
financing
The financial support for projects involving children and young people is mainly generated through events, sponsoring and donations. Events include concerts, sporting events, and theater performances. Local companies can act as sponsors. The proceeds will then be passed on to the organizations or projects in question, together with other donations. The ideal part of the clubs is in most cases decoupled from the administrative organization. The money generated is always used in accordance with the statutes, without being mixed up with membership fees or advertising material. The largest event in Germany is the circus palace.
Among the most successful Kiwanis charity events in Germany are the business talks and the Kulturpalazzo, both of which have been held since 2008 under the direction of the Kiwanis Club Heilbronn St. Kilian eV. Prominent speakers at the company talks included Lothar Späth , Friedrich Merz and Anton-Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell . At the Kulturpalazzo, artists like Bernd Kohlhepp , Christoph Sonntag and Sebastian Pufpaff ensured success. Since 2008, the two events have raised over 530,000 euros in donations for social institutions for children and young people. (As of 01/2015)
Projects
- Eliminate
In partnership with UNICEF , Kiwanis International is trying to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. Three vaccinations of the mother for 60 cents each are sufficient to protect mother and child against the danger of tetanus. Kiwanis Germany supports Eliminate as one of four Germany-wide reference projects.
- Schoolbag project
Children from socially disadvantaged families are provided with school bags and school utensils by the regional Kiwanis clubs. The project aims to counteract the exclusion of socially disadvantaged students
- Hedgehog is a secret
As a stage project, "The Hedgehog Secret" tries to sensitize children of preschool and elementary school age to the topic of sexual violence.
- Circus palace
The circus palace in Heilbronn is the largest free children's circus festival in Germany. The event has taken place every year since 2014 at the beginning of January on the Theresienwiese in Heilbronn. 2,380 children and young people from social institutions in the Heilbronn Franconia region and their supervisors are invited to the circus palace. The patron is the former Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg Günther Oettinger . The children's project is also supported by the mayor of Heilbronn, the mayors of the region and numerous ambassadors. The founder of the first circus palace was the Heilbronn entrepreneur Andreas Fischer. He designed the circus palace as a joint project of several Kiwanis service clubs in the Heilbronn Hohenlohe region.
Principles
Golden rule: “Always behave as you expect your fellow human beings to behave towards you”, based on Mt 7.12 EU .
There are also six other principles:
- Give priority to human and spiritual values over material values.
- Promote the application of ever higher standards in social, societal and professional life.
- Develop lasting friendships, practice altruistic service, and form better communities through Kiwanis clubs .
- Promote the application of the "Golden Rule" in all interpersonal relationships in everyday life.
- Form more understanding, active, and helpful members through advice and example.
- Collaborate on building “healthy ” public opinion , thereby promoting righteousness , justice and loyalty to a free state as well as good international friendships.
literature
- Edwin A. Biedermann: Lodges, clubs and brotherhoods . 2nd Edition. Droste-Verlag, Düsseldorf 2007, ISBN 3-7700-1184-8 . (410 pages)
- Sebastian Gradinger: Service Clubs - for the institutionalization of solidarity and social capital . VDM Verlag, 2007.
Web links
- Service Clubs: "Quality counts more than vitamin B" , Simon Hage in conversation with Dr. Sebastian Gradinger in: manager-magazin.de, November 16, 2006.
- “Achieve a lot with little effort” ( Memento from April 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) - Interview by Christine Hunger on BusinessNews.com from Dec. 18, 2006 (via Internet Archive )
- Kiwanis Germany
- Kiwanis Switzerland
- Kiwanis Austria
- Kiwanis International
- History of the circus palace