The El Dorado Kiwanis Club held its Kiwanis One Day service event on Saturday, Oct. 24. Kiwanis One Day is a day where Kiwanis International encourages all their clubs to go out into their local communities and do a service project; it is a day set aside for clubs to work together to better their communities. It’s also been a day when club members invite friends and family to join them in a project that can improve a community, according to the Kiwanis website.
This year, the El Dorado chapter decided to team up with the South Arkansas Arts Center (SAAC) for Kiwanis One Day.
“Last year we helped SAAC with folding programs, cutting things and organizing the storage room,” Jaren Books, Kiwanis President said. “This year it is a little trickier because of COVID-19, but we are fortunate to be able to partner with SAAC again this year and help them out.”
The Kiwanis Club is known for the emphasis it places on bettering the lives of children. It is a service organization dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time, according to the group’s Facebook page. Past civic events by the chapter have included El Dorado’s Kiwanis Club Reads, where the organization goes into local schools and reads to students.
It is this mission of having a positive impact on the lives of children that lead to the group wanting to partner with the SAAC again this year.
“We chose SAAC because they are one organization that we sponsor a children’s play, where children do not have to pay to be a part of the play,” Books explained.
For Kiwanis One Day this year, SAAC and Kiwanis teamed up to do some grounds keeping around the arts center. This included trimming the crepe myrtles around the building, other plants and some weeding. Members and volunteers from both organizations brought tools and good old fashioned elbow grease to get the day’s tasks accomplished.
Laura Allen, executive director of SAAC, expressed her thanks for this collaborative effort and for everyone that came out to help.
Kiwanis President Jaren Books and President Elect Victoria Young worked alongside SAAC Board members including Ann Trimble, Alex Bennett, Paul Burns, Bentley Wallace and Crystal Willis. Other volunteers included Carol Ellen, Scott Ellen and Sam Allen.