Message from the President

Welcome to the Kiwanis Club of Gainesville, Georgia!

A letter from our 2024-2025 President, Angela Sheppard:

I am honored to be elected as this club’s President as it celebrates 100 years. It’s a momentous year to celebrate and reflect upon where our club began, what we’ve achieved, and where we still want to go. I think about our past and the exciting things our club has accomplished:

Over 50,000 Dictionaries provided to 3^rd Graders
The numerous STAR Students and Teachers that have been recognized by the Club
Tens of Thousands of Dollars awarded in Youth Art Scholarships
Countless Pancakes Flipped over the Years to Raise Money
All the heroes of Law Enforcement recognized by this Club

But perhaps most importantly for the moment, I think about our future. I think about how to keep our club relevant and strong for the next 100 years. I think about how we ensure we are able to pass this club to the 200^th President. In my reflection, to do this we have three specific challenges ahead. We must:

Focus on Membership
Strengthen our Financial Position
Fortify our Role in the Community

I want to focus on these goals and how we make these a priority in the year ahead.

Goal Number One - Focus on our membership

Focusing on our membership doesn’t mean just growing new members, which of course is important, but also retaining the members we currently have. Our membership numbers have continued to decline through resignations of members that do not attend or cannot attend. We need to call members when they are absent for a while and say, “Hey, I noticed you haven’t been here. We miss you, is everything ok?” We need to find other ways these members can participate besides only Tuesdays at 12:00. Holding after hours socials occasionally in lieu of traditional meetings would give members flexibility of when to attend events, plus it would give us time to get to know each other better. We can actually talk to each other, besides just listen to a speaker. And yes, we need to focus on growing the membership. How do we attract new interest in the club? What are things we do to make people want to be a Kiwanian? These are discussions we need to have moving forward.

Goal Number Two - Strengthen our Financial Position

I’ve seen over the past six months it become more challenging to pay our bills. Cash flow has become a real problem and we’ve had to borrow from the service account to cover expenses in the operational account. All funds have been repaid, but that isn’t a standard practice we want to maintain. Kiwanis International Dues have increased, catering expenses are in fluctuation, and as we established, membership is down. Unfortunately, it isn’t an ideal situation. Since our last dues increase in 2019, everything is more expensive, as you are all painfully aware. As I propose the budget for this next year, I will be looking at an increase to our dues along with ways to cut expenses. But the only way for this club to remain viable for the next 100 years, and accomplish all that we want, is to ensure we have the financial strength to do it.

Goal Number Three - Fortify our Role in the Community

I mentioned many of the great things we already do as a Club. We will continue to recognize the STAR Students and Teachers, continue the Youth Art Scholarship awards and other traditions. But some traditions are ready for a fresh perspective to ensure their purpose is still meeting today’s mission. Our annual Dictionary Project and Pancake Breakfast while steeped in tradition are ready to be refreshed to reach a broader audience and change to meet current needs. But this provides us new opportunities to decide what will we do these next 100 Years. What new traditions can this club establish and pass down? As a club we must decide what our role in this community will be going forward. Our mission is children, but how are we bringing that to action? What are we doing as a club to make this our primary focus?

Accomplishing these three things is certainly something neither I, nor the Board can do alone. Every member of this club needs to have a role so that the reach of the club is broad and the action of the club is consistent.

To accomplish the goals set forth, I would like to challenge every member to join a committee to get engaged and active in the club. Four committees have been established that have a certain purpose and task to help us accomplish these goals and run more efficiently as a club. The committees are as follows:

Membership & Growth
Club Meetings
Special Events & Socials
Projects & Community Connection

Think about which committee interests you the most and how you can engage with the committee’s purpose – and sign up! If we all do a little, we can all accomplish a lot.

Over this year I look forward to carrying forward many of our traditions but I will also be challenging the club to embrace changes to make us more resilient and relevant to charge ahead into our next 100 years.

It’s important that we remind ourselves of our reason for being a Kiwanian. We aren’t here just to eat and be entertained each week. We believe in the Kiwanis vision:

Kiwanis will be a positive influence in communities worldwide — so that one day, all children will wake up in communities that believe in them, nurture them and provide the support they need to thrive.

I am incredibly grateful and humbled to be leading this club. I appreciate your friendship and I look forward to the exciting year ahead.