Date Established: August 23, 2019
Chester Kiwanis is the club for you, if you… Believe our children can be strong leaders of tomorrow; Take pride in your community; Want to reach out to those in need.
As one of the most active community service clubs in the Hudson River West Division of Kiwanis International, the Kiwanis Club of Chester is quite devoted to our community – both local and global. We promote the long-standing objectives of Kiwanis: service; advancement of national, community and individual welfare; and strengthening of international good-will. Established in 1975, The Kiwanis Club of Chester has been serving the local community for 45 years! Our goals include improving communities by hosting fundraisers and offering projects that directly impact children. Our mission, to improve the world, one child and one community at a time, allows us to identify needs quickly and offer relevant support directly where it’s most needed.
Some of the projects we continue to be involved with include; developing leadership and a philosophy of service of students in the Chester School District through sponsorship of the Builders Club in the middle school, the Key Club in the high school, and most recently, the K Kids Club in the elementary school. We sponsor the Aktion Club to support adults with disabilities. We host the annual holiday Toyland to distribute toys and clothing to those in our community who are in need. We visit the residents of Valley View and bring entertainment and companionship to their lives, especially on days like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. We participate in the annual town-wide community clean-up days. We provide books to the school library and scholarships to Chester Academy graduates. We coordinate the Snack Pantry Program to make sure food insecure students in the Chester School District have healthy snacks each day. We provide local support to families in Chester through our active involvement in the food pantry, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Braeside Camp for Kids, the Inspire Program and so much more.
We offer opportunities to learn more about topics of community relevance by hosting guest speakers from various walks of life. Our current global project includes working on the Eliminate Project to help eradicate neo-natal tetanus around the world. Sounds like a lot of good we do, right? Well, it is, and to make it all happen, we raise funds through just a few major fundraising activities each year, as well as individual donations. We run a rose sale, a Super Bowl football pool, our annual fish & chips dinner the first Friday of Lent, and our annual 5K race held on Memorial Day weekend each May. We hope you’ll help us support our mission of improving the world one child and one community at a time.