Members of Benicia’s Kiwanis Club celebrate at a Christmas event. (Courtesy photo)

By Robin Silver and Gretchen Burgess
Special to the Herald

For many of us, we envision the Kiwanis Club and other service organizations as a bunch of men hiding from their wives, drinking, wearing funny hats, and knowing the secret handshake.  Or they are a group of business men making decisions/connections outside the office, often on a golf course.  Fortunately for Benicia and other towns around the world, that image out of a “Mad Men” episode is the past.  The Kiwanis Club of today is a whole new entity.
Today’s Kiwanis is:

1. Coed-  Women are now an integral part of the organization, not just as members but as leaders.
2. Apolitical- Although patriotic, we are proof that liberals and conservatives can work together and even like each other.
3. Nondenominational-  We currently use St Paul’s Church for our meetings, but there is no religious agenda or affiliation.
4. Focused- Our goal is to improve the lives of young people, predominantly locally, although there are some international efforts. Our motto is: “Making the community a better place to live, one child at a time.”  We have members with and without children but we all want to make the world better for the future generations.

Projects, including many ongoing, by the Benicia Kiwanis Club have included:
* Putting AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in all the Benicia schools and some other public buildings.
* Supplying/building several storage sheds on school property for teachers’ use.
* Chartering a Cub Scout Pack yearly.
* Holding the Benicia Easter Egg Hunt for over 50 years.
* Supporting the Key Club, a Kiwanis-associated high school service and leadership club.
* Chaperoning our pack’s Pinewood Soap Box Derby as well Key Club high school events.
* Providing college scholarships for Benicia high school students.

We meet once a month for dinner and a business meeting on the third Tuesday at St Paul’s Church Parish Hall.  We also try to have social events every four to six weeks. We hold several fundraisers during the year including an annual golf tournament every May. We are presently planning our first Cardboard Boat Regatta for the autumn of 2018.
If you would like to meet some new people, experience a greater sense of community, and know that you are making big differences in the lives and futures of our children, consider attending a meeting.     For us, Kiwanis is our superpower!
For more information, see www.beniciakiwanis.org or log on to Facebook.
For those not from Benicia,  there are also clubs in Vallejo, American Canyon and Napa.

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