Charlevoix Kiwanians Sponsored Groups

The Club was chartered on March 19th, 1935 at the Masonic Temple in Charlevoix. The club currently has fifty members and meets each Tuesday at noon in the basement of the Weathervane Inn in Charlevoix.

Charlevoix AKtion Club

The Charlevoix Kiwanis Club is proud to be one of the first clubs to start an AKtion Club in the State of Michigan.AKtion clubs allows adults living with disabilities to participate in community service projects, gain leadership skills and become more involved in society.

The AKtion Club of Charlevoix started in 1999, with the late Merle Vandenburg bringing the idea to Charlevoix from Florida.  Together with Suzanne Muma and Jeff Rogers the first AKtion Club of Michigan was Chartered in April 2001.  Ken Brill, Kim Brock and Ed Buday have been instrumental in keeping the club going, along with each of the current Kiwanis Club Presidents. Ed Buday has also been instrumental in helping AKtion Clubs get started accross the State of Michigan.

The AKtion Club is able to attend the Kiwanis Convention on an annual basis along with holding their own annual convention which is known as AKtion Club’s Annual Convention \ Campout which includes annual meetings, hiking, crafts, campfires, scavenger hunts, talent shows and much more.  Last years campout included AKtion Club members from Charlevoix, Grand Rapids, St. John’s, Holt, Monroe and Mason.  

The Builders Club

This active group of girls and boys put together a Halloween Haunted House that rose close to $200.00 that was shared with a family they adopted in need during the  holiday season.  You may have read about their joint effort with Student Council collecting over 7000 non-perishable food items for the Charlevoix Community Food Pantry. Projects also included “Pennies for Patients” program -collecting pennies for Leukemia/Lymphoma research, and bake sales to increase the amount they sent to this worthwhile organization.  The Club’s hot chocolate sales during recess earned them  $100.00 a week which will be utilized to help their causes.

If you’ve walked around the outside of the middle school building towards the science and art room area, you may have taken in the beauty of the “Butterfly Garden”.  This breath taking piece of landscape was created with many hands, big and small, as our local Garden Club joined efforts with the Builders Club to create this serene setting.  During the winter months while flowers are hibernating, some of the Builders Club members created decorative tiles for the garden under the direction of Caroline Smith, middle school art teacher. 

Other middle school staff, recognizing this active group, put together recycling containers to keep our school involved with creating renewable resources.  Club members are responsible to collect recycled paper and educate others about recycling and what we can do to protect our environment.

The club also involves themselves with bell ringing for the Salvation Army.  Last year’s participation brought an added $300.00. They also entertained the residents at Sunnybank with Christmas Caroling and Valentine cards.  I am proud of the Builders Club accomplishments and the support given by school counselors Karrie Gaffney and Sue Goss as well as the local Kiwanis Club.  Their combined efforts will be noticed for years to come.  Leo Buscaglia once said, “Too often we under estimate the smallest act of caring, there is potential to turn a life around.” Thank you to all involved, as your smiles, kind words, and gestures of kindness, help so many and have instilled the power of what