A Huge Thank You to the Kiwanis Club for their generous donation!
We extend a very heartfelt thank you to the Kiwanis Club for their generous gift of $5,000 towards a commercial kitchen at the Social Center.
A commercial kitchen will help us better serve the community on many fronts.
First of all… the teens in our afterschool teen rec program love to cook! Not only do we have weekly cooking activities, but the teens enjoy preparing food for our community events. A commercial kitchen will make it easier to hold events like our recent Veteran’s Day dinner. The teens prepared chili for a group of 25 veterans, then sat and shared a meal and conversation.
We will be able to offer an attractive event space where people can legally cook meals for large groups. Local food producers could rent it to make added value food for sale. As a rental facility, it can help bring in revenue to keep other Social Center programs going.
We are grateful for their appreciation of what we bring to the community and in turn would like to share more about their mission and activities. Secretary Harry Gough writes:
The Mission of the Kiwanis Club
“Changing the world, by serving children.”.
The Elizabethtown Kiwanis club was founded in 1932 and is now celebrating its 92nd year of serving and supporting the children of our area.
In nearly a century, the Elizabethtown Kiwanis club has grown to include members from the towns of Lewis, Essex, and Westport.
Over the years, the Kiwanis’ Club commitment to our children has included scholarships, sending teens to the Hugh O’Brien Leadership Program, providing new dictionaries to every 3rd grader in the Keene and Boquet Valley school system.
In the past five years the Kiwanis club has started a bicycle program for children in Essex County. Donated bicycles are repaired and refurbished by volunteers in Plattsburgh known as the “Bike Guys”. The Kiwanis provide funding for Bicycle parts and tires. Several times a year, bicycles, from the smallest trikes to full-size bikes are distributed to children in Essex County.
Funding for Kiwanis projects comes from the money earned at the Kiwanis Bacon Burger booth at the Essex County Fair, tent rentals, club events and donations .
In 2024 the Elizabethtown Kiwanis Club, in partnership with the Elizabethtown Social Center, helped remodel their kitchen facilities, making it a better place for children to learn and grow.
Elizabethtown Kiwanis welcome new members. The club meets twice a month for dinner in Elizabethtown at the Deer’s head Inn.
If you are interested in joining the Kiwanis Club please contact:
Secretary Harry Gough at etownnykiwanis@gmail.com