The Great Bend Kiwanis Club has another award to hang on its wall: A banner signed by Kiwanis International President Katrina Baranko.
The 2023-2024 president’s term comes to a close at the end of September and she is making one last trip to some of the Kiwanis clubs around the world. There are clubs in 85 countries, and according to its defining statement, “Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.”
The local club meets at noon on Wednesdays at Walnut Bowl but held a special meeting on Sunday to welcome Baranko, who was joined by Jo Schwartz from Abilene, who is also wrapping up a term of office on the club’s international board of trustees. Schwartz served as Baranko’s driver and would go on to their final Kansas stops in Dodge City and Elkhart
Great Bend is in Division 8 of the Kansas Kiwanis and representatives from all of the clubs in the district were at Sunday’s meeting: Pratt, Hutchinson, Ellsworth and Lyons sent members, along with the Russell club from Division 12.
“This kind of representation speaks highly of your club,” Baranko said. Other state officers attending were Dawn Gabel from Hays, the Kansas Kiwanis Governor, and local member Dan Soeken from Ellinwood, who will become the state governor on Oct. 1. Members of the Rosewood Miracle Workers Aktion Club also attended. Great Bend is host to two Kiwanis Aktion Clubs that promote service in action for people with developmental disabilities. One is sponsored by Rosewood Services and the other is sponsored by Sunflower Diversified Services.
Walnut Bowl provided a traditional Midwest lunch of chicken fried steak. Baranko, who is from Georgia, commented that in her travels to other countries, she wasn’t always familiar with the cuisine. However, when it comes to caring for their children, people around the world “are just like you,” she said. “They want a brighter future for their children.”
Local members described some of their service projects, starting every spring with an Easter egg hunt and the Barton County Spelling Bee. This fall they will again sponsor a Halloween costume drive and the popular Halloween parade. They also sponsor two renewable scholarships to Barton Community College.
The club also places 180 U.S. flags along Broadway Ave. and McKinley St. on patriotic holidays as a fundraiser and last year donated $80,000 to the City of Great Bend for park equipment, including funds for a pavilion next to the new Splash Pad at Veterans Memorial Park, Soeken said.
The club’s president at Division 8 Lt. Governor Suresh Maharjan has been working to bring the Kiwanis BUG (Building Up Grades) Program to elementary schools and has been working on Key Leader, a weekend leadership program for high school students. The Kansas District Key Leader program takes place at Rock Springs Ranch.
Maharjan presented Baranko with a souvenir pin and a $250 donation to the Kiwanis Children’s Fund.
