Rosemead Kiwanis historically has been supportive of the KEY/KIWIN'S Club program in local High Schools.

We presently sponsor Key Clubs at both

                                     Don Bosco Technical Institute and

                                     Rosemead High School   (Click link for the RHS KEY Club Website)

The KEY of KEY Club stands for Kiwanis Educated Youth.  The Clubs today are an international group descended from a Kiwanis Club project started in 1922 in Sacramento, CA.  In 1946 clubs patterned after this initial effort became the foundation of Key Club International with districts and divisions paralleling Kiwanis International.  There are now thousands of Key Clubs on public and private high school campuses in many countries.

Within the Cal-Nev-Ha Kiwanis District there are also KIWIN'S Clubs.  These began as the all-girls counterpart of the then all-male Key Clubs.  The name is probably related to Kiwinettes, an all-female but unofficial version of Kiwanis when the latter was still an all-men's group. (Editor's note: a a Kiwinette chapter still survives today in Glendora as a regular Kiwanis club). Reluctant to abandon their unique identity, the KIWIN'S are today a special co-educational Key Club Division within the Cal-Nev-Ha District.  The KIWIN'S Clubs have special focus on the health care industry and fighting pediatric trauma while also implementing the overall KEY Club program.   Unlike most KEY Clubs, KIWIN's Clubs are not required to be on-campus clubs affiliated with a specific High School.

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As part of the 1946 reorganization a challenge was made to focus part of KEY Club energies on making an international impact. This program is still followed today through the "Four Seasons of Service" program in conjunction with KEY Club International's partner organizations:

The  "Four Seasons of Service" and partner groups are:

·         Fall -- UNICEF (IDD program) (Iodine Deficiency Disease -

                               see http://www.keyclub.org/keyclub/service/ )

·         Winter -- Children's Miracle Network ( Pediatric hospitals -

                               see http://www.cmn.org/sponsors.php?view=13 )

·         Spring -- March of Dimes ( Birth defects -

                               see http://www.marchofdimes.com/howtohelp/644_1423.asp )

·         Summer -- Read and Lead   ( Literacy -

                               see http://www.readandlead.org/keyclub/kc_index.htm )

In addition, both KEY and KIWIN'S Clubs work on numerous service projects tailored to their local communities.  There are no practical limits as to the range of projects, which have over the years literally ranged from student tutoring to highway bridge building. The general rule is that each member should perform a minimum of fifty hours of community service annually apart from attending weekly meetings and that each Club should identify and address needs as resources allow in each community. It is estimated that, throughout the Key Club network. more than 10 million service hours are produced annually.

All KEY and KIWIN'S Clubs have one or more Kiwanis Club sponsors.  As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Rosemead Kiwanis sponsors of Key Clubs at both Don Bosco Technical Institute and Rosemead High School.  There are presently no KIWIN's Clubs in the Rosemead Kiwanis service area area, principally because there are also no children's hospital or treatment facilities in our community.

There was once a co-educational KIWIN affiliate at Rosemead High School known for its fine arts emphasis.  It was merged into the still-active RHS Key Club as part of a District economy drive.  It seems there was a perceived need to eliminate paid faculty advisors for two service clubs and voluntary advising was not an option - Rosemead teacher's unions reportedly objected  to unpaid faculty advisors and volunteerism by faculty members, feeling apparently that this might be used to coercively impose additional classroom-unrelated duties on already stressed teachers.  Some Internet sources still refer to there being two RHS clubs, but this has not been the case for several years.

The Don Bosco Key Club is active in helping with the Garvey School District's after school program; the  Rosemead High School Key Club is active in numerous community service projects with possible expansion into supporting a K-Kids Club and RIF program at the adjacent Encinitas Elementary School. The Club presently works with the Muscatel Intermediate School Builder's Club and supplies tutors to the Savannah Elementary School.  It also has its own Rosemead High School KEY Club website - just click here!