Utica Shelby Kiwanis helps nonprofit orgs and community
The Utica Shelby Kiwanis Club invites nonprofit organizations to participate — for free — in the Non-Profit Showcase at the inaugural Kiwanis Pitch Competition. Three finalists in the contest will present their projects.
The event is 3:30-6:30 p.m. March 23 at SmartZone Velocity Center, 6633 18 Mile Road, Sterling Heights.
The Utica Shelby Kiwanis Pitch Competition is a community service project and an opportunity for young people 14- to 18-years old to pitch innovative community project ideas.
Some competitors are from Kiwanis-sponsored high school Key Clubs.
The clubs can earn cash awards of up to $10,000 for their club’s projects. Prize money comes from sponsors recruited by the Kiwanis club.
Projects can be business ideas or social venture ideas. The students’ projects can focus on literacy, the environment, mental health, hunger, leadership or anything else that impacts their own community. In the goal-setting process, students must explain who will benefit from their project and how the world will be better off if their project succeeds. They get to showcase their innovation and skill as organizers, business, and community leaders.
The contest was open to all high school students in the state, and information was sent to Key Clubs. Finalists are: Project FIRST Crevolution Robotics — Adeline Paul; Blessings in a Backpack Expansion — Katherine Farmer and Ava Nightingale (Eisenhower Key Club); and “I am … I am … Coloring Book — Aaylah Mott.
Blessings in a Backpack is a nonprofit organization that sends home millions of bags of ready-to-eat food with children at more than a thousand U.S. schools. It operates from about 1,200 community-driven programs. It costs about $175 to feed one child every weekend of the school year.
Marc D. Alexander, president of the Utica Shelby Kiwanis Club, heads up the Pitch project. He said sponsors that provide prize money include: Lite Raise; Velocity Center; Piston Group; Allied Insurance; Copa AI; Zausmer, P.C.; ReGroup Advisors; and Momentum.
The event is billed as “a must-attend for anyone interested in the power of youth innovation and the impact of community service.”
Students have had four months to create their projects that are judged on feasibility and growth potential. They have to factor in the costs of equipment and
supplies, and use marketing and communications skills.
Students collaborate with others to accomplish their projects.
See uticashelbykiwanis.org/kiwanis-pitch. For more information, send an email to hello@uticashelbykiwanis.org or see Utica Shelby Kiwanis Club at uticashelbykiwanis.org.
Linda-Ann Heldt from the Utica
Shelby club is a long-time liaison between Kiwanis and Key Clubs. She recently earned the 2023-2024 Outstanding Kiwanis Advisor Award for her work. The award came from the Michigan District of Kiwanis.
“I have been the Kiwanis Key Club advisor for Eisenhower High School for over 10 years now and recently became the Kiwanis Key Club advisor for Sterling Heights High School,” she said.
“Those are the two Key clubs I advise, but I know that the Sterling Heights Key Club is working on doing welcome kits for Friends of Foster Kids,” Heldt said. “They are also making bracelets for different organizations like autism and cancer, and they are going to sell those. The Eisenhower Key Club just did a popcorn fundraiser sale and sold over $4,000 worth and they were able to give 50 percent of that back to the club so they can do some different things. If the Eisenhower High School Key Club should win a cash prize in the Pitch competition, the money will go to Blessings in a Backpack.”
Plarn mats are made from plastic bags cut into strips and woven like crochet yarn into mats, and then distributed to people experiencing homelessness.
“We had a plarn-ing event for the homeless at the Sterling Heights Senior
Center,” Heldt said. “Key Club members helped out with them. There is a bus going down to our convention in Atlanta, Georgia in July and we are going to take the mats down there and give them to the homeless in Atlanta.”
Heldt, who is president of the Warren Kiwanis Club, said there are 5,075 students in Key Clubs in Michigan.
The Warren Kiwanis Club sponsors the Sterling Heights High School Key Club; the Utica Shelby Township Kiwanis Club sponsors Key Clubs at Eisenhower and Henry Ford II High Schools; the Sterling Heights Kiwanis Club sponsors clubs at Stevenson and Utica High Schools and Utica Academy for International Studies (UAIS); the Clinton Township Kiwanis Club sponsors Key Clubs at the International Academy of Macomb, Chippewa Valley, Dakota and L’Anse Creuse High Schools; the Clinton Valley Kiwanis Club sponsors the Clintondale and Anchor Bay High Schools’ Key Clubs.
Lions Youth Exchange seeks host families
When people think about a Lions club, helping people who are blind or visually impaired comes to mind. But the international organization has additional programs, like its exchange student program to give people a chance to experience other cultures.
“Lions Clubs of Michigan is looking for some families in the community who can open their hearts and doors for a month in summer 2024 to host a Youth Ambassador,” Elvie Marfil said. She is the Lions Michigan State Youth Camps and Exchange chairperson.
In the spirit of global fellowship, students
15- to 21-years old who generally stay for two to four weeks, are soon arriving from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.
“These young people are part of the Lions International Youth Camps and Exchange program, bringing young adults from various parts of the world to the United States during the summer program July 25-Aug. 22,” she said.
Host families need not be Lions members, nor must they have children at home. Host families are responsible for the student’s room and board. Visiting young adults come with spending money, and additional activities is up to host families. Host families are reimbursed $150 per student for miscellaneous expenses, and support funds come from local sponsoring clubs.
Youth Exchange Students who come to Michigan will stay at the Lions Bear Camp in Lapeer Aug. 11-17. The fee of $150 that covers cabin stay, food, activities and leadership training is paid by the students.
People interested in the Youth Exchange may contact Marfil at epmarfil5@gmail.com or 818-800-1060.