Busy day in the neighbourhood this morning!

We were visited by Pat and Daphne from Riding for the Disabled, some GWG Key Clubbers (Zoey, Leah, Gillian and Jordan) and Natalia Porro.
Natalia delivered a bagful of Komfort Dolls.

• Thank you Natalia!

Zoey, Leah, Jordan and Gillian came to give us an update from DCON 2017 in Portland (Presentation, some photos removed to fit, Sorry Gillian, below). The GWG ladies said it was "... an amazing opportunity with amazing spirit..."

• Don't forget Key Club needs help Saturday 10am at GWG for their Bottle Drive.
• Also if you have bottles the Sardis Bottle Depot has an account for them, #123.

Pat and Daphne from Riding for the Disabled were on their farewell tour, and celebrating their 34th breakfast with us!

• See the images above of their card to us.
• After 34 years, the Pacific Riding for the Disabled is closing. Hoping for the best, but closing. The ladies brought albums of all the adventures since 1983, it was touching and amazing. A wonderful flashback from many of our members.
• These ladies have done amazing work throughout our community and estimate thousands of children have been supported because of their program, Chilliwack is blessed to have women like Pat and Daphne.

Other updates included:
- Moments and information from the Bahath fundraiser Monday night (check out the Facebook page for photos)
- Super Reader, assemblies under control and Arley with all the details, he shared some great photos too, check out Instagram for them.
- Nominations for elections open next Tuesday, April 18, Ernie will have the nomination sheet.
- McHappy Day is coming up on May 3rd.
- Knock and Walk is on May 3rd.
- Inside ride at W.J. Mouat is on May 4th, Dennis has all the information.
- Soup Kitchen on Saturday past served 139 meals.
- Going to start collecting toiletries for Ann Davis, the specific list will be in your emails.

Of course, we are coming up on the busy season!
Talk soon, and have an amazing one!

Michelle

A typical chilly, wet, grey type of Chilliwack morning!

It was a calm in house meeting was up for this morning. Dennis had a slideshow from his trip to Panama, which looked incredible and warm! And we did updates and enjoyed a few good laughs!

Updates include:

• Trailer is out for the first time this season April 1st for the plowing match, there was a sign up sheet that went around, if you can help out, contact George.
• Arley handed out a whole list of new Super Reader dates for the month of April. If you are available, let Arley know.
• Barry D. informed us that the Planning Committee for Canada Day has started meeting, so details about the Pancake breakfast and our involvement will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.
• Michelle invited everyone to come watch a field hockey game with her senior girls playing a team from Alberta on Sunday April 9 at 10:30am (ish) at Townsend Turf
• Sheila got the final numbers from Santa Shuffle (the Salvation Army food bank Christmas fundraiser) a total of $3308.50 was raised in its first year, so very promising for this coming year.
• Regional Conference is April 8 in Mount Vernon, there are 3 of us going, let Michelle know if you are interested in attending.
• April Board Meeting is set for April 4, 7pm at the Chilliwack Public library.
• The Golden Ears 150th Birthday Bash was a great night for all who attended, we even heard that Barry and Mary won stuff!
• Also GW Graham Key Club is still taking bottle donations at the Sardis Bottle Depot under account #123, so if you able to help their efforts, it is greatly appreciated

We wrapped it all together with Happy Bucks and we are off to make the week great again! Be sure to check out our Instagram feed!

Yours in Kiwanis,

Michelle

Top of the morning to everyone today!
Today we celebrated no snow, Barry's return, and Erwin's fête!
Peter B gave us an update about scholarships from Monday night, Wednesday night we meet again to do our second school. Arley W is gearing up with Super Reader again, Friday March 24 is Mt. Cheam, I believe Arley has people to help for that day! Stay tuned though, post- Spring Break busy is coming quickly and we will need all hands on deck. A reminder about the Golden Ears fundraiser on Saturday March 25 at the Maple Ridge legion, Dennis is looking for one more member to join them to make the festivity an interclub too- Talk to him if you are interested in attending.
Also the Regional Conference is April 8, please let me know if you are interested in attending, we have 3 thus far and we need to get our paperwork in soon!
Barry B. also gave a run down of his vacation- what a time, he brought back a fundraiser he came across, the picture is below- what a great idea! Does someone have a greenhouse?
Finally, our guest speaker today was Lucy Fraser from Chilliwack Hospice. She came with updates about the services Chilliwack Hospice provides our great community. There are partnerships growing with the First Nations communities, and those networks are proving to be beneficial. Of note, it's nice to hear that their services are being brought into the schools and that AD Rundle has started a grief and loss support group. They have also diversified their assistance programs, and offer cooking classes, bereavement support, grief counselling and suicide counselling to name a few. It was my pleasure to present a cheque to Lucy to help support the continuation of the services Chilliwack Hospice provides.

We wrapped up with Happy Bucks and best wishes for the best of week!
Don't forget to follow us on Instagram @fvekiwanis and give us a Like if you are on Facebook at Kiwanis Clubs of Chilliwack and Sardis!

For the Good of Kiwanis,
Michelle

It feels like we are coming up on another busy season!

As for our regular meeting and communications, here are a few highlights:

• Board Meeting is tonight at 7pm! See you there!
• Pancake Day is today, so go enjoy some pancakes at IHOP!
  
• DCM is coming up- who's in to travel?
  
• Check out the Foundation News, January 2017 edition, Sardis Kiwanis gets a mention! Go Sheila and Key Leader!
• Peter, and a contingent attended the SD#33 Scholarship Appreciation Dinner, what a great evening! We will be reviewing scholarships shortly, Peter will keep us infomed.
• Soup Kitchen is coming up on Saturday!
• Kiwanis Kurling Funspiel was at the Abbotsford Curling Club on Sunday! 55 people attended, Dennis' rink came in second! Great job team!
• March 14, Lieutenant Governor Greg Weigrich will be atteding our meeting, so brush up on your American anthems for next week!
• Super Reader was a blast last week! Welcome back to Arley!
• We also did it! All we need 4 more people and Sardis Kiwanis Club will have 2 full tables at the Bahath Centre fundraiser on April 10(Link is to the Facebook event)! 
• We had a discussion about the history of Chilliwack, as a group shared some photos from the Flood of '51. The Facebook group Chilliwack History Perspectives is pretty interesting (Link is to that Facebook group)
• Finally we pass our deepest respects and condolences to the family and friends of Grant Ullyot who passed away this past week

We wrapped up with Happy Bucks, and onto next week is a busy week- we have an Installation, Matthew Francis the Curator at the Chilliwack Museum and Archives is our guest speaker, we also have a presentation, and all our regular awesomeness!
Have a wonderful and inspiring week, for the good of Kiwanis,

Ciao

Michelle

"When I came here, I was looking for a community. Then I realized I was helping create one."
​~Anom 

Apologies for the delay in this post, busy weeks and then Spring Break!
​We had a busy morning, lots of updates, including:

• Kurling at the Abbotsford Curling Club March 5 1 to 5pm
• Key Club is coming to visit on April 11
• Scholarship Dinner with Peter B and School District #33 on March 2
  
• Chilliwack Hospice Gala is on March 4
• DCM in Sumas is March 13
• Soup Kitchen is March 11
• We received a lovely letter from the Spina Bifida group, thanking us for our donation in Valerie Tunbridge's name
• IHOP breakfast is on March 7
• Bowls of Hope annual dinner fundraiser is on May 5
• Board Meeting is on March 7

​John celebrated his birthday, we made sure he did not forget and we had guest speaker, Steve Anderson, from Chilliwack Senior Secondary this morning. Steve was here to talk to us about the Human Services Career Program he oversees at CSSS. This program is in partnership with SD#33, UFV, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. The program aims "to create a reciprocal learning environment where CSSS, UFV and elementary students are learning together through relevant, engaging real life experiences." Steve spoke of some 'game-changing' cases where students were able to help students overcome barriers. This program empowers students, and sounds like it is having a very positive impact on our community and schools.
We wrapped up with Happy Bucks and a hope that the snow can stay away so Spring can arrive!

​Yours in Service,

​Michelle