Who We Are
The organization originated in August of 1914 in Detroit, Michigan from a conversation between Allen S. Browne and Joseph G. Prance. Browne's idea was to solicit business and professional men asking them if they would be interested in organizing a fraternal organization with a health benefit feature. Brown was compensated five dollars per new member that joined for his operating budget. Browne and Prance set out and recruited enough members to apply to the state for a not for profit status. The state approved the application on January 21, 1915 and The Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order Brothers was formed. The name was changed to Kiwanis a year later. The Kiwanis Club of Detroit is the original local club in Kiwanis. By 1927 the organization had more than 100,000 members. Kiwanis became international with the organization of the Kiwanis club of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1916. Kiwanis limited its membership to the United States and Canada until 1962, when worldwide expansion was approved. Since then, Kiwanis has spread to all inhabited continents of the globe. The original purpose of Kiwanis was to exchange business between members and to serve the poor. The debate as to whether to focus on networking or service was resolved in 1919, when Kiwanis adopted a service-focused mission. Each year, clubs sponsor nearly 150,000 service projects and raise more than $107 million. As a global project in coordination with UNICEF, members and clubs contributed more than $80 million toward the global elimination of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), the leading preventable cause of mental retardation. Beginning in 2010 Kiwanis International joined with the World Health Organization to launch a new worldwide health initiative, Project EliMiNaTe, dedicated to wiping out maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), which kills more than 100,000 babies worldwide each year. The Portales Kiwanis Club meets every Tuesday at 12:00 noon in the ENMU Campus Union Building. 2013-2014 Officers: President: Patricia Schroeder Vice President: Ollie Oviedo President Elect: Andy Nazario Secretary: Dorothy Glover Treasurer: Charles Brooks List the projects serving the community ENMU Scholarships Little Olympics Swim & Track Meet Roosevelt County Fair Pet Show Habitat for Humanity • AYSO Soccer Scholarships Portales Literacy Council • “Adopt a Mile” Trash Program Camp Kiwanis (Summer camp for kids with disabilities) Science Fair Teacher Award Kids for Kindness Books for Head Start Fund raising projects Clovis Pancake Day, February 1, 2014 at the Clovis High School Cafeteria from 7 am till 2 pm. CKI Spaghetti Dinner, February 1, 2014 at the Memorial Building 200 East 7th Street, from 5 – 8 PM. Chili Dinner, February 28, 2014. Flower Sale Poker Run and Cookout
What We Do
"Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time."
