New Kiwanis Club aims to help county's children

A Kiwanis club has recently formed here with the goal of helping children in Jackson County.

Dan Brenner, who serves as the president of the newly formed club, said the mission of Kiwanis is to “improve the world one child and one community at a time.”

The club started in January and meets at 4:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month at the Beck Bookman Library in Holton. The next meeting is April 12. There are currently 15 members. 

“Right now, we’re focused on growing our membership,” Brenner said. 

In addition to Brenner, Amy Austin serves as the secretary and Marcia Jager serves as club treasurer.

Each meeting has an agenda and includes discussing old and new business and the treasurer’s and secretary’s reports. 

“The primary focus on Kiwanis is for the better enhancement of children,” Brenner said. “We’re working with all the school districts.”

Club members hope to establish a reading program at each school district this fall featuring books with inclusive scenarios, such as students with disabilities and students from other cultures.  

“We’ve got a bunch of books, and we’re going to try to get those in the hands of teachers and principals,” Brenner said. “The author is from Topeka, and we were told that she would come up here and read to the kids. It’s a great program.”

Kiwanis offers a variety of programs for children of all ages, including the Bringing Up Grades (BUG) program that is also of interest to the local chapter here. 

“We’ve been reaching out to folks about the Kiwanis club and letting them know we are here,” he said. “Anyone who may need more help can also reach out to us.”

Robert and Jan Maxwell in Topeka, who are very active in Kiwanis on the local and national level, reached out to Brenner last fall about helping to establish a club here in Jackson County.

“They are really solid people doing wonderful things,” Brenner said of the Maxwells. “Jan had previously done some groundwork to get the club started here.”

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