Our Family

Kiwanis International is a thriving organization of service-minded men and women who respond to the unique needs of their communities and address worldwide issues by "Serving the Children of the World".

The name "Kiwanis" was coined from an expression in an American Indian language of the Detroit area, "Nunc Kee-wanis," which means, "we trade" or "we share our talents."

The first Kiwanis club was founded in Detroit in 1915 by a group of businessmen. A year later the Kiwanis Club of Hamilton was chartered and today, the entire Kiwanis family has more than 600,000 members in more than 13,000 clubs. Kiwanis clubs serve in 89 countries around the world and achieve what individuals cannot do alone.

Worldwide, Kiwanis clubs: Assist children, young adults, the aging, and the needy Improve communities Encourage international understanding Kiwanis also plays a special role in developing future generations of leaders. K-Kids Clubs in elementary schools, Builders Clubs in middle and junior highs, Key Clubs in high schools, and Circle K Clubs at college level, all are Kiwanis organizations that teach community service and leadership skills to young people. In addition, Aktion Clubs are made up of adults living with a disability who enthusiastically perform service to help others. In one year, Kiwanis clubs sponsored 147,000 service projects. To do so, Kiwanians raised and spent nearly $70 million and contributed 6.2 million hours of volunteer time.

Kiwanis' continuing service emphasis is called "Young Children: Priority One," which focuses on the special needs of children from prenatal development to age five. Projects conducted as part of the "Young Children: Priority One" service emphasis involved $14.3 million and 1.3 million volunteer hours.

In 1994, Kiwanis launched its first Worldwide Service Project, a $75 million campaign in partnership with UNICEF to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders by the year 2000. Iodine deficiency is rare in areas where iodized salt is used, but in other parts of the world you might suffer lifelong severe disabilities. As many as 1.5 billion people are at risk, especially young children.

Through Kiwanis membership, communities are improved, friendships are built, leadership skills are developed, and business contacts are made. More importantly, the lives of children around the world are changed for the better.