What We Do

Kiwanis is all about Kids. We have been in existence in Wellington since 1924, serving the youth of Wellington.

Service Leadership Programs

Community service is part of our mission and Kiwanis provides young people with opportunities to serve. Our pride and joy is sponsorship of our Wellington Schools’ Service Leadership Programs, the Wellington High School Key Club, The McCormick Middle School Builders Club, and Westwood Elementary/McCormick Middle K-Kids. We have about 100 to 125 students in these clubs, performing service work in the community and school. Currently, K-Kids include students in the first grade through sixth grade. The Builders’ Club traditionally serves middle school students. Working in cooperation with Wellington Schools, the Builders /Club students are meeting with the high school Key Club.   

We sponsor two high school sophomores to the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference at Ohio Northern College.

Scholarships

Our long-term signature project has been to raise funds to provide high school scholarships. For the past several years, we have awarded five to seven $1,000 scholarships to worthy graduates of Wellington High.

We recently expanded our scholarship efforts by partnering with the Wellington Schools’ Endowment Fund to encourage parents of kindergartners to get an early start on college savings by enrolling in the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority’s College Advantage program. Each year, they provide up to a 25 percent match not to exceed $250 to each student whose parents contribute to the College Advantage program. If a parent puts in $1,000, the endowment contributes $250 into that student’s account. This program had been under-utilized but in the past three years nearly 40 students have had savings programs established under this program that is unique to only Wellington.  

Kiwanis is starting a second signature program and is beginning in 2020 to begin to raise funds for community playground equipment. Westwood Elementary is in dire need of new playground equipment. Union School program has plans for a playground and the village’s recreation park will be updating its playground equipment. Kiwanis will be leading fund-raising efforts to provide safe and fun playgrounds for the Wellington community. Proceeds from the annual State of Wellington breakfast will go towards playground equipment.

Community endeavors

We support Well-Help, our local food pantry, and sponsor the local Boy Scouts troop.

Kiwanis helps with the Duke Pride Carnival, serving breakfast and sponsoring a bounce house for students to enjoy. The proceeds from the carnival benefit Well-Help, the local food pantry. We help sponsor Wellington High’s community day where students spend a day providing community service work throughout the community. Our sponsorship helped feed students and provides t-shirts.

In addition, Kiwanis works with Oberlin Community Services each month and delivers food packages to income-eligible Wellington residents. As Kiwanians, we also assist other local civic organizations by providing volunteer manpower with their main civic events, including the Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce and Main St. Wellington. 

Fund-raising efforts

Our fund-raising includes Pancake Day, usually held in February or March on a Friday. In 2018 we started a new tradition by sponsoring the State of Wellington breakfast with Mayor Hans Schneider and Wellington Schools’ Superintendent (and Kiwanian) Ed Weber provide an overview of the previous year and outline their goal for the coming year. Plans are to use proceeds from this breakfast to purchase playground equipment. Each August, we sell admission tickets at the Lorain County Fair. We also have our annual Morris Furcron Peterson Nut Sale in the fall. The past two years, the community has supported by Kiwanis in this effort with sales totaling more than $10,000.

We’re here to serve. Kiwanis is for Kids.