Past and present members of the Kiwanis Club of Tsawwassen-Ladner will gather for one final time at Beach Grove Golf Club tomorrow night to celebrate 50 years of service. A feature of the evening will be a presentation of long service to one of its members and an open mic opportunity to share memories of having served Delta for the past halfcentury.
The club recently announced it is disbanding due to insufficient membership despite repeated attempted to bolster its ranks.
The club has a long history of community service, including providing pancake breakfasts at Ladner May Days and Tsawwassen Sun Festival for decades.
Other events include popcorn service for the outdoor movies, hamburgers and hot dogs for OWL open houses, Christmas hampers donated to and delivered, and popcorn and candy floss served in the Town Centre Mall for school breaks.
One of the most productive fundraising activities was the rock and roll dance held annually in KinVillage Recreation Centre. Kiwanis was the first major fundraiser for Delta Hospice, leading the way for many other local non-profit groups to support the organization. Money raised was distributed to local groups needing support with a particular focus on youth. Whether it was helping fund sports teams, bursaries for graduating high school students, Boys and Girls Club programs or grief support programs for children through Delta Hospice, the Kiwanis helped approximately 30 recipients annually.
A major project was the creation of the 828 Hurricane Air Cadet Squadron, which has now been operating for 43 years.
Kiwanis members took in larger projects such as creating parks in neighbourhoods, the pier in Diefenbaker Park and the Kiwanis Longhouse, which was originally used as a library but is now home to the South Delta Artists Guild.
In addition to funding, labour was provided to build facilities and maintain venues, with members spending entire days improving locations, including the Reifel Bird Sanctuary bird hides, KinVillage gardens and others.
Club officials say volunteer hours are difficult to record accurately but if 2011, when membership had already decreased considerably, is used as an example, over 600 hours of service were invested in the community. Multiply that by 50 years and you get a low estimate of 30,000 hours donated to the community since inception in 1965 with 33 members.
Fundraising hours (approximately 50,000) resulted in community support of almost $1.25 million.
