FELLOW KIWANIANS;

It is a distinct honour and pleasure to be taking the reins of such a storied and distinguished club as the Kiwanis Club of Forest City-London. Only by standing on the shoulders of past President Doug Taylor and all his predecessors can I envision being equal to the task at hand.

As we embark on a new year in Kiwanis, we can look to the future with hope, safe in the knowledge that our work and contributions will make a lasting difference in the lives of the citizenry that we serve.

Kiwanians should be rightly proud of the good work carried out through our committees to improve the lives of children in so many ways. In order to carry Kiwanis service forward into the future, we must confront the issue of membership levels, in order to ensure the long term viability of the Club and our continued efforts in making the world a better place, one child, one community at a time.

In this vein, Kiwanis President Elect Art Benjamin has begun work convening club members and calling us all to action to make a concerted effort to increase club membership. This effort will be central to the goal of the club to increase member ship by six net new members or 10% of our existing roster strength.

The club will continue in it’s efforts to establish a Circle K club at Western, in fact as we speak students are meeting with club officials of the University Student Council to expedite matters.

Lieutenant Governor Jim has recruited a student at Saunders Secondary  (GO SABRES) who has filed the proper paperwork with the school and found a teacher  (a former Key Clubber ) who will serve as advisor) Now it is up to us as a club to  dedicate ourselves in the short term to helping establish the club, and in the long term to nurture and support the growth of the club. Our club will be active in support of the Key Club Convention being held in London in 2012. Through donations both financial and through the provision of volunteers we hope to assist Key Club in making this a great event in London. In fact our club will be sponsoring a night’s celebrations at the convention.

Certainly Kiwanis is about service first and foremost, but not just about service. The values that tie us each to Kiwanis also tie us each to the other. An increased focus on club camaraderie I hope will strengthen the ties within our club. Therefore we have re-established a social committee to be headed by Steve Harris—Steve will be organizing various activities for all of us to attend together as a group throughout the year. If you have any ideas—don’t be shy—let Steve know.

Kiwanis One Day, which is scheduled for April 21 2012 is a worldwide day of action for Kiwanians. It is my intent to have a service project to run that day and I will be establishing a working group to choose an appropriate project and get the ball rolling.

. A renewed focus on club camaraderie, increased meeting attendance and Kiwanis education for all, will be the crux of my efforts as President. Only through awareness of Kiwanis structure and goals at all levels, can we adequately communicate to prospective members that which we all already know—Kiwanis is the greatest service club in existence and we are all proud to be a part of it.

Let’s all spread the good news that is Kiwanis, as we move forward together serving the children of the world.

Philip N Heisz B.A. (Hons)

President

Kiwanis Club of Forest City London

"Ask me about Kiwanis"