The Kiwanis Club of Oliver needs new blood to carry on the many beneficial programs in the community, such as its housing component. File photo
There is a certain perceived concern about what happens when a group of people who have formed a club to do good work in a community finally calls it quits.
And that will happen from time to time. Recently the Osoyoos Gyro Club was disbanding; the reason – lack of members and aging membership. Is that a surprise? Not really.
Over the years service clubs and fraternal organizations have had dwindling memberships because younger adults, for whatever reason, have been reluctant to join these groups and step up to the plate. Do they assume these organizations will go on for perpetuity?
A few years back the Kinsmen used to run a rodeo here in Oliver, and due to their membership numbers packed it in, and we haven’t had rodeo since because no one stepped up to take on the task. Eventually the Kinsmen Club shut down.
Recently the Kiwanis Club of Kelowna, which has only 16 members, announced they were selling the Kiwanis senior’s apartment complex because they didn’t have enough members.
There used to be three Kiwanis Clubs in Kelowna, now there is one, with 16 members. The Kiwanis Clubs of Vernon, Nanaimo and Parksville have all divested themselves of their housing complexes. The reason – lack of new memberships and aging members.
I have been a member of Kiwanis for over 20 years and I will be 80 years of age this year. During that time I have served on the boards of directors for both the club and the housing society. I have served as a director, treasurer, secretary and president of the clubs (in Courtenay and Oliver).
I have taken part in many club activities and quite frankly, I’m burned out. I no longer have the enthusiasm I had when I joined 20+ years back. Looking around at my fellow and gal members I see a group with the average age of 70 years of age (11 are over 80 years). How long can we last?
If some younger folks do not step up to the plate soon, we may go the way of many clubs and may have to close our doors. No more Kiwanis Market, no Kiwanis seniors housing (three complexes), no Kiwanis family housing units and no Kiwanis Aktion Club. And do you, the citizens of Oliver understand what all that means? No more donations from the Kiwanis Club of Oliver, and some programs would have to shut down; the list is extensive.
Thousands of dollars put into the community through the efforts of the volunteers working at the Kiwanis Market may not be available. The Kiwanis Club truly enjoys the support of the community and gives a lot of support back. I would hope to see this continue.
Kiwanis is a “service” organization; we serve the community in which we live and beyond. We are non-denominational, are male or female, are willing to volunteer for activities that we can support, and are able to associate with others who like to serve their community. What we look for in new members is ideas. Those of us who have been around for a time need fresh input.
One of the things we would like to do is have some “hands-on” projects. Our problem is we don’t have the membership to carry out those projects.
We really enjoy what we do for the community and seriously hope we will be able to continue. But if we don’t get an infusion of younger members we may not be able to offer our services.
For more information, call club secretary Rosemary Pritchard at 250-498-0426.
By Peter Morrow
