August Empire Newsletter

The official publication of the empire division Volume 1. Issue 3. August 2012

Happy August! Yup, you heard that right, I say HAPPY August. Yes, I do realize that means classes will be back in session but it also means the beginning to a great recruitment and retention season. It means working on recruiting new members and showing them all that Circle K has to offer. This will be the bulk of this month’s newsletter and it should be the highlight of your semester. Think of not just new members but new friends, possibly, friends that will stay with you for many years to come. With this said, I hope that everyone had a great summer. I know I did! I got the chance to do so many great service projects with many of you. We did some restoration projects in Forest Park, went to a food pantry in Coney Island, worked at the Queens Botanical Gardens, attended the Long Island Southwest K-Family picnic and volunteered at an Aktion Club picnic. Travel-wise, I got the chance to go to New Orleans for our Large Scaled Service Project and International Convention. I also got the chance to attend CKI’s Leadership Academy; I am going into my 6th year in the K-Family and was definitely at the top of my list of greatest K-Family experiences. More to come later in this newsletter!

Service 1

Table of Contents: Welcome…………………………………………1 Recruitment and Retention (1) ………………2 Recruitment and Retention (2) ………………3 DLSSP………………………………………………4 Dues ………………………………………………5 Service Spotlight ……………………………….6 Leadership Academy …………………………7 Upcoming events and more! …………….….8

What do these two terms mean? Don’t they have the same meaning? No! Absolutely not!

Recruitment – the action of finding new people to join an organization or support a cause Retention – the continued possession, use, or control of something Notice the two underlines words here. When recruiting members, you are focused

on introducing new individuals to Circle K. When working on retention, you are focusing on getting your already recruited members to stay in Circle K and love it.

Remember to highlight all the positives of giving back!

The whole idea is to recruit a solid foundation of members early on in the academic year. Take advantage of your college’s orientation sessions or club fairs, these are the best opportunities to recruit Circle K members Try leaving Sudoku or Crossword puzzles lying around on the desk in the classrooms. On the bottom of these puzzles or activities, write in some of your club’s information. “Brought to you by Circle K, the leading community service organization on campus! For more information join us on Monday’s at 12:15 in room 310 or e-mail us at [email protected]”

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Leadership 2

Use sidewalk chalk to promote meetings or events!

3 Fellowship

When it comes to tabling, here are a few tips:

• Use the gong. It creates a sound that could attract attention if used. It also serves as an

important icon to past Key Club members, let past Key Clubber’s hit it!

• Provide flyers, brochures, activities that people can grab and look at later on as a reminder

of what CKI is. Try and keep these informative yet simple.

• Offer free stuff. This can be as simple as free hugs or free air. It you can, give away pins,

pens, stickers or candy to attract people!

• Make sure the next meeting time and location is clear. If possible, provide free food at the

upcoming meeting.

• Have a sign-up sheet that asks for their name and e-mails. Asking for too much information

can get too personal at first and/or time-consuming.

o If possible, use a laptop and have them type this to prevent illegible handwriting

• If you have club t-shirts, try and get as many people possible to wear them, people love

t-shirts and this also attracts attention!

• Visuals! This means a tri-fold of photos, a scrapbook, anything people can see.

• While doing all this, keep your table organized. No one likes to look at clutter.

• Along with clutter, try not to overcrowd your table. People at a club fair don’t like to wait.

o Members/officers simply hanging out at the table = big turn-off to potential members

• Stay positive! If you for some unfortunate reason had a bad experience, don’t share that

one. (Leave out the time you almost passed out from heat exhaustion doing service.)

• Stay ENERGIZED!

• Share your passion and the reason why you serve

This year, our District Large Scaled Service Project (DLSSP) will be held in Syracuse, NY on the weekend of October 5th – October 7th so save the date! Registration and more information will be out soon but as a heads up, registration will be approximately $25 to cover your service project expenses and food for the weekend. We can work on transportation when the time gets closer. Keep your eyes open for more information. You won’t want to miss out on an amazing weekend of service and fellowship. Plus, you get to meet Circle K members from all over New York!

Service 4

Last year the District Large Scaled Service Project (DLSSP) took place in Binghamton, NY. We

were split up into groups doing different service projects with Circle K'ers from all over NY. My

group ended up doing flood relief, which was an amazing experience because not only did

we have fun with each other while doing it, but we got to talk with the people whose property

we helped clean up and got to know their story. The people we helped at DLSSP were so

grateful, it reminds us one of the reasons why we do service in the first place, to help others in

need. - Jia Xing Shi, Adelphi University

Members demolishing sheet rock after Hurricane Irene

Volunteering at a center, serving kids with special needs

What are the benefits of paying dues? • Becoming a part of the Kiwanis International family which

means that you have support from all branches • Leadership opportunities give you the chance to grow • Making a difference in how the organization operates • Having insurance during any CKI meeting or event • Networking with CKI members from all over the U.S. and the

other 17 nations where there are CKI clubs • Having a cool membership card and pin to carry around! • Finding yourself through service, leadership and fellowship

5 Leadership

Yes, it may be free to serve but belonging to such an amazing organization like Circle K

International unfortunately, does not come free. There are dues that must be submitted, in

order to be recognized as an official active Circle K International club.

There are two types of dues:

1. International – this is a flat rate sent to international; the cost is based on how many

students are in the college/university

• For institutions with 5,000 or less students, it is $450

• For institutions with over 5,000 students, it is $600

2. District – this is $8 per member in your club that will go to the New York District

• For institutions with 5,000 or less students, you must have at least 15 members

• For institutions with 5,000 or more students, you must have at least 20 members

There are 3 different deadlines to keep in mind when it comes to submitting dues:

1. Early Bird – October 1st

2. Regular – November 1st

3. Final deadline before your club goes “inactive” – November 30th

Cleaning up the slope

at DeVoy Playground Sorting and distributing food at the Coney

Island Lighthouse Mission food pantry

Weeding at Jackson Pond

Playground

Fellowship 6

Q u e e n s C o l l e g e !

Queens College has done a number of service projects since the July newsletter, here are some pictures and captions to go along with them so that you can get an idea of what they’ve been up to!

Volunteers at an Aktion Club picnic

For the week of July 30th – August 4th, 54 Circle K members traveled to Morgantown, Indiana to a camp where we were taken away from our cell phones, the internet and reality so that we could focus on developing ourselves as a community and better ourselves as servant-leaders.

“That fact that you do not just learn about being a leader but

you learn about yourself and how to be a better person.”

“The fact that everyone was

there for the same reason,

and we were all like minded

but everyone had different

views and opinions.”

“The opportunity to learn how to become a better leader while making friends and memories you're certain to never forget! And being CKI there was still the service opportunity for Waycross camp! Possibly the best week of my life.”

“The chance to be surrounded

by positivity and inclusiveness

while bonding with new friends

as you develop yourself as a

leader as one community.”

“Not being judged for who I am, but rather being respected and supported to do so!”

“The opportunity to meet other people from the entire USA and other parts of the world. Also a chance to make lifelong friends who you can tell anything to without being judged.”

“The confidence I gained, and the friends I met.”

“The chance to meet and become friends with so many other

leaders who are inspiring change in the world.”

“The impact that just a few simple words can have on a

person and their outlook on life is unbelievable!” “I enjoyed getting to know and learn from leaders across this organization and across the world, while at the same time sharing with others what I know.”

“Learning that we are not alone as leaders,

we have an endless support system along

with us for the ride. And meeting new

friends that I will never forget”

7 Service In just 6 days, we all became the best of friends

Vote for the big divisional event at the August

divisional!

Leadership 8

August 18th – Chinatown Beautification Day – 62 Mott Street, Chinatown – 12:00PM

https://www.facebook.com/events/254010681383997/

August 23rd – Queens College Freshmen Recruitment – QC Quad – 1:00PM-5:00PM

August 23rd – Recruitment and Retention Webinar – your computer – 7:00PM

August 27th – Queens College CKI 1st Meeting – QC SU 304 – 12:15PM-1:30PM

August 27th – August Empire Divisional Meeting – QC SU 310 – 7:30PM-9:30PM


August 30th – District Large Scaled Service Project Webinar – your computer – TBA

September 2nd – 2nd Annual K-Family Picnic – Cunningham Park – 12:00PM-5:00PM


September 8th – Glendale Community Day – Atlas Park, Glendale – 10:00AM

September 15th – LGA Kids Day – LaGuardia Airport – 10:00AM

September 22nd – Light the Night Walk – Forest Park – 6:00PM

September 24th – September Empire Divisional – QC SU 310 – 7:30PM-9:30PM

*Note that typically, divisional meetings will be the last Monday of each month

Am I missing something? Do you need something cleared up or have further questions? Don’t be afraid to contact me: Call or text: 718-757-5687 Divisional e-mail: [email protected] Personal e-mail: [email protected] Skype: pb_kelly Facebook.com/kelchansayss

Feeling down? Visit http://www.thenicestplaceontheinter.net/

Documents

August Empire Newsletter