Member Spotlight: Back Mountain Kiwanis
Organization Formed: 2018
Joined the Back Mountain Chamber: 2020
Learn More: Facebook.com/backmountainkiwanis


An interview with Carrie McDonald, President of the Back Mountain Kiwanis, who has been with the organization since its establishment in 2018.

Tell us about Kiwanis, the Back Mountain club and those who you serve. 
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. Every club is committed to doing service that is close to its heart and crucial to its community – and the focus of our Kiwanis club is children! 
 
The Back Mountain Kiwanis chartered in May 2018 so even though we are a fairly new club, in our two years we have done so many wonderful things to help the children of Back Mountain community. Our club is made up of 33 members who are educators, parents, business owners, grandparents, professionals – varying in age and bringing a range of life experiences. All of this makes our club unique and helps us target the needs of the local community. We value quality members over quantity.

What are some programs the Back Mountain Kiwanis has created?

To ensure that our mission of service is carried forward, Kiwanis has created award-winning programs for people of all ages and abilities. The Back Mountain Kiwanis sponsors the following: 
 
K-Kids: K-Kids a service club for students in Lake-Noxen Elementary School (grades 1 through 6). It's led by elementary students and teaches the value of helping others by taking part in community service projects. 

Builders Club: As students in grades 7 and 8 maneuver this “in-between-stage” of life, Builders Club empowers them to be themselves, work with peers and implement plans through action. As an extension of Kiwanis International, Builders Club shares the mission of building leaders to help children around the world. Through the Builders Club, students become leaders at school, in their community and in the world. Seventh and eight grade students at Lake-Lehman Jr/Sr High School are encouraged to participate in our Builders Club.

We also organize a Food Drive for the Pastor's Food Pantry, a Book Drive for Students at Lake-Noxen Elementary School, a Pajama Drive for Back Mountain Head Start, and we have adopted and sponsored two highways through the Adopt-A-Highway Program. We are planning a Virtual 5K Turkey Trot for November 1st – November 30th, and a virtual fundraising event to benefit the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center. Keep an eye out for details!

We try to diversify projects to appeal to our different members. If any of these service projects interest you, we encourage you to check out our club and consider becoming a part of it!

 

What’s an interesting fact about Kiwanis that most people don’t know?  

We provide childcare at our meetings. It is a great time for parents to get out of the house and become involved in the community. Their child(ren) can also participate in many of the service projects or be a part of the meeting. 



How does being a member of the Back Mountain Chamber help your organization?
Being a member of the Back Mountain Chamber will help our organization by promoting all the events and activities we do that benefit the local community, children’s organizations, and the Kiwanis community service groups such as K-Kids and Builders Club 

Is there something you specifically want people to know about the Back Mountain Kiwanis? 
We welcome and encourage non-members to visit us at our meetings to find out about our club. There will be no obligation to join if you come and attend a meeting. Also, we need you! The children in our community need you! There is no better feeling than serving your local community. It is also an opportunity to get together and network with like-minded people—and research shows that helping others makes us happier, too. During the pandemic, we continued to meet virtually and plan for the upcoming school year and we have a lot of ideas and initiatives that we would love to get more of the community involved with.
 
We just held a great Krispy Kreme fundraiser and we found that people loved it — so we are doing it again on September 5th at 9am. We are also partnering with partnering They Grow So Fast Consignment Shop and anyone who purchases donuts can get 50% off at the shop! This fundraiser will support our First Grade Back to School Supply Drive (info below!). 





How does someone join the Back Mountain Kiwanis?  
Anyone who is willing to join can become a Kiwanis club member, provided they’re over 18. That’s why we have the service learning projects, like K-kids and Builders Club, so the kids can be a part of it too! The average age of our members is 43. 
Attend meetings, find out if you’re interested and you can officially become a Kiwanis Club member. We’re looking for people who want to work towards one goal — service to help the community. 
 




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