Community Service Projects

Dictionary Project

Minisink Valley Kiwanis began this annual project in 2007 for all of the 3rd graders in the Minisink Valley Central School District. Each student received a copy of Webster’s Dictionary for Students.

The goal of this program is to assist all students in completing the school year as good writers, active readers and creative thinkers by providing students with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to keep and use at school and at home for years to come.

Eagle Institute

A new eagle observation blind along the Delaware River in Minisink Ford, NY is now ready for use and offers another safe opportunity for viewing without disturbing the eagles. Four members of our Club recently spent a Saturday morning improving the observation area for the eagle watchers. Peter Ewanciw, Steve Brigham, Dave Morse and Ed Miklaszewski installed benches, a fold down desk, a brochure rack and life sized eagle silhouettes. In preparation for the work performed that day, Dave Morse made the silhouettes, Peter Ewanciw built the fold down desk and Ed Flynn designed and constructed the brochure rack. For more information on the observation area, please visit The Eagle Institute at www.eagleinstitute.org

Food Baskets

Members of the Minisink Valley Kiwanis have been providing Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets to the needy for more than 40 years. Fundraising projects throughout the year pay for the food, which is purchased at ShopRite on Dolson Avenue in Middletown. The Minisink Valley Key Club supplies the funds for one of the baskets.
In addition, beginning in May of 2007, the Kiwanis Club of Minisink Valley enacted a monthly food basket program. Each month we deliver food baskets to three needy families in our area. The shoppers meet monthly at ShopRite on Dolson Avenue in Middletown. This program was funded by our clubs first ever advertising booklet that was sent to over 8,000 homes in the Minisink Valley and Pine Island area.

Home Emergency Labeling Program

The Kiwanis Club of Minisink Valley is performing a community service project called “H.E.L.P.”, Home Emergency Labeling Program. This program is designed to help emergency service organizations, within the Minisink Valley School District, locate a residence via properly installed address signage. The signs will be installed as per the town’s official regulations. Kiwanis will install the signs free of charge as most of the materials have been donated. The balance of materials needed will be provided by Minisink Valley Kiwanis. This past spring we received a very generous grant from the Wingen Family which will be used exclusively for this program. The grant will keep this project funded for several years.

Minisink Valley Kiwanis will not be in the position of enforcement of address signage but a means for free installation of signage to meet town code.

If you would like to have a sign installed, or know of someone who needs one, please contact David Morse at [email protected]

Not One More

The “Not One More” program is a one hour teenage driver safety forum that was started by two reporters from the Times Herald Record. In 2007, with the their guidance, we adopted and presented our version to a packed auditorium at the Minisink Valley Middle School. Guest speakers included law enforcement, emergency services, county coroner officials and accident survivors who discuss their experiences of dealing with the aftermath of crashes involving teens.

Help us declare “Not One More” teen death on our roads.

Soup on Saturdays

Minisink Valley Kiwanis in conjunction with Minisink Valley CSD , students, faculty, staff and administration have begun collecting cans of soup and boxes of soup mix to help feed the needy families in the district. Each school and several of our student and community groups along with K-Kids, Builders Club and Key Club will take turns asking for donations of soup throughout the next several months, which Kiwanis will then distribute. We know our students eat a balanced breakfast and lunch through our school programs on Monday through Friday, while they are in school. This is the third year for the S.O.S. program which stands for Soup on Saturday, this program will help ensure that students have something to eat on the weekends. Each school and student group will use a variety of methods to elicit donations. As you join us on campus for one of our many activities, you may be asked to bring a can of soup to help support this worthy cause. This program is voluntary, but we hope that many of our families will be able to help. It is important that we continue to teach our children they too “can” make a difference in someone’s life.

This project gets great support from all of the communities in the school district. Last year over 6000 cans of soup were delivered to families, community shelters, food banks and church food pantry’s.