We Serve the Children of the World
We’d love to have you join us at one of our South Lansing Kiwanis Club’s weekly meetings. We meet for a meal and fellowship. Many meetings feature a speaker from the community who provides information and updates on events and happenings in the area. A member of Kiwanis International, the Club has been serving the community for over 70 years, since it was chartered on October 15, 1951.
Our Meeting Schedule
- 1st & 3rd Thursday, 7:30 am at Bob Evans Restaurant, 600 American Road, Lansing
- 2nd & 4th Thursday, 11:30 am at Delhi Cafe, 4625 Willoughby Road, Holt
- 5th Thursday, 5:30 pm at Delhi Cafe, 4625 Willoughby Road, Holt
SCHEDULED MEETINGS
July 30 – 5:30 pm – Delhi Cafe – Bookmark project – no scheduled speaker
August 6 – 7:30 am Bob Evans – Julie Thomasma, CEO Child & Family Charities, The HUB
August 13 – 11:30 am Delhi Cafe – Conner Holguin, The Village Lansing
August 20 – 7:30 am Bob Evans – Brian Philson & Ashley Crosser, Highfields
See our Meetings Page for information on Recent Meeting Speakers
What We Do
Kiwanis is about helping kids in our communities. Over the years, we have been involved in many projects locally, including providing dictionaries to third graders, sponsoring Builders Club at Gardner Academy and Aktion Clubs at Transitions Central and Transitions South, cooking hot dogs and feeding over 1,000 kids at the Lansing Safety Patrol picnic, working at Special Olympics events, ringing bells for the Salvation Army, raising money and building the Hawk Island Park and Maplewood Women’s Shelter playgrounds, providing backpacks for the Lansing Rescue Mission and area schools, food drives, and many others.
Most recently, we have collected “wish list” items for EVE Inc (www.eveinc.org), League of Enchantment (www.leagueofenchantment.org) and St Vincent Catholic Charities Refugee Services (www.stvcc.org).
We have a special project that our members really enjoy — filling tote bags with new baby items for first-time parents in partnership with the Ingham County Health Department Nurse-Family Partnership (www.health.ingham.org). Their nurses have joined us for a packing party and shared their experiences with distributing the bags to the parents.
Our club also actively supports the Kiwanis of Michigan Foundation (www.kiwanisofmichiganfoundation.org) with an annual contribution but also with leadership — two of our members serve on the board of trustees.
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Partnerships and Projects
UPCOMING PROJECT - SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE - APRIL 24 - UPDATE
We’re collecting items to present to Sleep in Heavenly Peace at our April 24 meeting. The items needed include twin size sheets, pillows and blankets suitable for kid’s beds. For more information on the organization, check out their website – https://shpbeds.org/chapter/mi-lansing/.
UPDATE – We sent Jerred home with a van load of pillows, sheets and blankets. Thanks so much to all who contributed!
BABY BAGS
For the last several years, our club has partnered with the Nurse Family Partnership of the Ingham County Health Department to provide tote bags of baby supplies for first-time moms. The bags include diapers, wipes, diaper cream, onesies, receiving blankets, safety items, pacifiers and much more. Also included is a small self-care gift for moms. We’ll be packing the bags again at our meeting on October 31, 2024 (rescheduled time to 11:30 AM at Delhi Cafe.
50 Beds Built for Kids in Lansing
May 21, 2022 was a great day for kids in Lansing. It was the day Lansing-area Kiwanis clubs and other community organizations came together to build 50 beds for those who currently sleep on floors, mattresses, sofas, chairs, and blankets.
Kiwanis Clubs represented included Delta Township, Grand Ledge Area, Greater Lansing Young Professionals, Lansing, South Lansing, St. John’s, Owosso, and East Lansing, along with Ingham County Sheriff, Lansing Fire Department, Cut Nails Woodworking, CATA, Acme Roofing, Tuesday Toolmen, and Give a Kid Project.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace provided the tools, work stations, expertise, protective equipment, canopies and set up. Kiwanis and other groups and individuals sponsored beds ($250 each) to purchase the wood.
SHP vetted applicants for beds, then delivered and assembled a complete bed — frame, mattresses, pillows, and comforter included.
REO School Partnership
We partnered with Reo Elementary School to provide a variety of services to the students, faculty, and the property. Even during the COVID pandemic, when students were learning remotely, we delivered 100 Weekend Survival Kits that included breakfast items, easy-to-prepare meals, protein-rich easy entrees, dairy (when available), and snacks, every other week. Club members have also tutored students, served breakfast prior to standardized testing, worked in the library, donated books and ear buds, and spruced up the building by painting.
In 2021 & 2022, the club donated $1,000 to Reo’s literacy program through Reading Is Fundamental.
Crego Park Bench Restoration
The Golden K Kiwanis Club of Lansing sponsored a large bench at Crego Park on the Lansing River Trail several years ago. The club has since folded and the bench was badly in need of a paint job. On October 28, 2021,The Kiwanis Club of South Lansing worked with the Lansing Parks and Recreation Department to update the look of the bench. It’s now a soothing nature-green and a wonderful place to take a break on the trail and observe nature.
