About Kiwanis International
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child, and one community at a time.
Service is at the heart of every Kiwanis club, no matter where in the world it is located. Members stage nearly 150,000 service projects and raise nearly $100 million every year for communities, families and projects.
Kiwanis Club of Clarksville
The Kiwanis Club of Clarksville (or Downtown Kiwanis Club) was chartered as the 220th Kiwanis club on May 18th, 1920. We are one of the oldest and largest active Kiwanis clubs in the country. The Clarksville Kiwanis Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit.
The Kiwanis Rodeo raises thousands of dollars annually that help to defer costs for our Foundation’s programs for children. Among these programs are…
- Annual Children’s Christmas Party – We give hundreds of local HeadStart children in Montgomery County toys and clothing each Christmas.
- Reading Rodeo – We work with the Montgomery County school system to choose an appropriate book each year and distribute to all third graders in Montgomery County (over 3,200 students), helping to teach them a love for reading. Under the previous program, known as Reading is Fundamental (RIF), we distributed over 100,000 books to local students over the last 25 years.
- Memories of Service and Sacrifice – We hold an annual “Interview a Veteran” contest which asks local students to speak with area veterans about their experiences in the military.
- Customs House Museum – We recently worked with the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center on donations to redesign and renovate their children’s level, including the Family Art Studio and Explorer’s Landing interactive area.
- Key Clubs – We directly sponsor three Key Clubs in the local school system (Clarksville Academy, Clarksville High and Montgomery Central High) along with financially supporting other clubs in the county. Key Clubs teach high school students valuable lessons on volunteer service as they gain lifelong friendships.
- We also use our time and money to benefit worthy causes for children such as Montgomery County Public Library, Boy Scouts, Imagination Library, Camp Rainbow, YoungLife, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Clarksville Association for Down Syndrome, Judy’s Hope, college scholarships as well as programs sponsored by Kiwanis International.