The Kiwanis Family

Kiwanis provides leadership and service opportunities for youth through its Service Leadership Programs.

Key Club:
Kiwanis founded and supports Key Club International. Started in Sacramento, California in 1925, Key Club it is the oldest and largest service program for high school students in the world. There are about 5,000 Key Clubs, primarily in the United States and Canada, but with clubs also in Central and South America, Caribbean nations, Asia, and Australia. Worldwide membership is more than 250,000 high school students.

Circle K:
The collegiate version of Kiwanis, maintaining some autonomy from Kiwanis, is Circle K International, also known as CKI. The first official Circle K club was chartered in September, 1947 at the campus of Carthage College (then in Illinois). Current membership is over 12,000 members in 17 countries, making Circle K the largest collegiate service organization of its kind in the world.

K-Kids, Builders Club, Aktion Club, and Kiwanis Junior:
Key Club, Circle K, Builders Clubs and K-Kids are part of Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs. They are sponsored by a local Kiwanis Club and receive funding and professional guidance from Kiwanis. K-Kids (elementary school), Builders Club (middle school) and Aktion Club (for people who have disabilities) are considered Kiwanis-led programs. Key Club and Circle K elect their own club, district, and International officers each year to lead the organization. Kiwanis Junior is part of the European Service Leadership Program, with clubs in Austria, Germany and Italy, and is typically for people ages 18–35.

Service:
Kiwanis serves children and youth using two approaches. One attempts to improve the quality of life directly through activities promoting health, education, etc. The other tries to encourage leadership and service among youth. In pursuit of the latter goal, Kiwanis sponsors about 7,000 youth service clubs with nearly 320,000 youth members. Kiwanis members help shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, mentor the disadvantaged, and care for the sick. They have built playgrounds and raised funds for pediatric research. In 2007, the charitable financial arm, Kiwanis International Foundation, was awarded the top rating by an independent evaluator.

Kiwanis International:
Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, it comprises approximately 8,000 clubs in 96 countries with over 260,000 adult members. The name “Kiwanis” means “we trade” or “we share our talents” and was coined from a Native American expression, Nunc Kee-wanis. This was originally the motto of Kiwanis, translated as “we build.” Kiwanis International is headed by a Board of Trustees, an International President and other officers. These officers are elected at the annual convention of Kiwanis International. There are several dozen administrative districts, each headed by a Governor, and within the districts are smaller divisions, comprising 12 to 20 clubs and headed by a Lieutenant Governor.