In April, the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada hosted, as its guest speakers of the week, the 2018-19 La Cañada 7/8 High School Kiwanis Builders Club student officers. 

Led by Builders Club Student President Anna Pacino, Vice-President Ari Tujian, Secretary Ruby Grey, Treasurer Vivien Chen and Publicity Officer Aria Wang, each student officer spoke about the activities highlighted on its annual report. 

Introducing the student officers was Kiwanis Club of La Cañada member and Builders Club faculty advisor Sam Picture, who is an eighth grade U.S. history teacher at LCHS 7/8. Picture was recently honored with a Community Service Award at a recent Kiwanis International Governor Awards luncheon for his more than 10 years of volunteer service as the Club’s faculty advisor.

“The Builders Club has been great this year, in fact it’s been exceptional,” said   Kiwanis Club of La Cañada President-elect Maureen Bond, who also serves as the Builders Club liaison and advisor. “Their membership is half the size from last year and they’re doing twice the work. They’ve reached their goals, and then some. The students are so promising – they’re really making a difference to their future, and also to the future of our community.”

The Builders Club milestone projects included Project “Eliminate,” an annual Kiwanis Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fundraising event. The goal of Project “Eliminate” is to eradicate neonatal tetanus in developing countries through vaccinations. During a four-week period, club members raised $1,029.93 by placing collection boxes at high-pedestrian places. After-school bake sales were also held to benefit Project “Eliminate.” In all, over $2,000 was raised, which included a matching grant from the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada.

The LCF Community Center holiday food drive was another successful charity event. In just three weeks, the students filled up six 96-gallon size bins with canned and nonperishable food items that were distributed to local families in need by the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Southern California’s benefitted from the Club’s Pennies for Patients drive. The Club raised $1,841.49, surpassing last year’s benchmark by over $375 and earning the Builders Club a Gold Champion Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Though the students felt the award was a huge honor, knowing they helped to battle these types of cancer was reward enough. With a theme of Disney heroes, each homeroom class was assigned its own Disney character and competed against each other to raise money for a blood cancer cure and treatment research. Teacher Andrew Arthur’s 7/8 split homeroom class raised the most funds ($380.46) and was rewarded to a Krispy Kreme doughnut party. 

In March, the Club members spent a Saturday morning at the La Cañada Flintridge Community Center doing various beautification projects. Under the supervision of Maureen Bond and other members of Kiwanis of La Cañada, the students worked in shifts from 9 a.m. to noon painting outdoor benches and picnic tables, touching up inside paint and helping to disassemble an old shed.

A project still underway is the “Hygiene for Hope” for Ascencia in Glendale. The Club’s current project helps Ascencia, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping homeless families by providing shelter and job-placement services. The students’ goal is to surpass last year’s total by collecting over 1,000 travel-size personal hygiene items. The students will gather the items and make up personal hygiene kits that will be distributed to families staying in shelters. The students hope the items will help make the shelters more sanitary and comfortable, and enable adult job seekers to look their best for job interviews. The Builders Club is also accepting cash donations to purchase additional items.

“Builders Club has been a rewarding and educational experience for me,” said Builders Club Student President Anna Pacino. “The people are so devoted to helping others, which is so crucial to the community thriving. I’ve learned so much about leadership, teamwork and kindness towards others. Builders Club has helped me grow in so many amazing ways.”

The Builders Club is modeled after the Kiwanis International Program encouraging youth by strengthening relationships and nurturing responsible decision-making as the students give back to the community in a fun and engaging way.

The Kiwanis Club of La Cañada extends an invitation to those interested in learning more to attend a lunch meeting to get acquainted, and hear the guest speaker of the week. The goal of the club is to help youth through community project sponsorship, such as the Builders Club. The group meets every Wednesday at 11:50 a.m. at Descanso Gardens in the Van de Kamp Hall. Visit www.lacanadakiwanis.org and click on “Meetings” to reserve a seat.