Home | Rock Island Kiwanis

Join Us and Make a Difference!

Happy Friday fellow Kiwanians! We had a nice turnout of 16 members at our meeting this week, and some excellent upcoming programs. So let's get right to the news!

The First Day Fund will be sorting school supplies at Rock Island High School on Thursday, July 17th. They will be working from 9 to 12 - go to the West Side of the School and you'll find them there.

Put September 9th on your calendar for a Geneseo Interclub Visit. They meet at 6:30 and details to follow as the date approaches.

The 2nd year of our Bicycle Project is up and running and we have raised $1195 already from club members in donations. Last year we purchases 21 bikes for Washington Junior High to give away as part of their Winning Warriors program and we hope to do even better this year!

The District Convention is August 1-3 in Davenport this year. If interested in attending, here is the link to register! https://k07.site.kiwanis.org/

Thanks to the club members who volunteered at the John Deere Classic. If you missed this story, WQAD did a nice feature on our longtime member Bob VanDeVoorde for his 40 years of service to the tournament. Check it out HERE!

The club raised $3625 in Birdies for Charity this year, the highest amount since 2020, and more than $1100 higher than last year! Thank you for your generosity!!

Also a special thank you to the Kathy Weston and her family. We received several hundred dollars in memorial gifts on behalf of Don and are so very appreciative that Kiwanis was included in their memorial choices.

Finally, President Jeff had the 2nd reading of the Slate of Officers for the upcoming year. It is as follows:

Past President-Jeff Condit
President-Joan Kranovich
1st VP-David Levin
2nd VP-Open (still hoping to fill, but not yet)
Secretary-Michael Glanz
Treasurer-Daryl Empen

3 year Board Terms-Mgcini Mpofu & Bob Braun
2 year Board Terms-Marla Andich, Al Beck & Christian Stuart
1 year Board Terms-Don Wentler, Steve Andich & Isaac Carr

Announcements

Our guest speaker for July 7th was Brian Allen, the new Executive Director of Quad City Arts. Brian is a big believer in that Art Makes Life Worth Living.

Quad City Arts operates 10 different programs, including their Visiting Artist Series, Visual Arts, Public Sculpture Program, the Metro Arts Program, and the Talking Arts Podcast, among others.

In 2024, they were responsible for 410 artists featured in their various programs, and had 436,000 engagements with the community. Some of their most visible programs are the Festival of Trees, the Chalk Art Fest at Schwiebert Park, and the Riverssance Art Fair. Their main gallery is in the heart of downtown Rock Island on 2nd Avenue.

Upcoming Programs:

Monday, July 14th Denise Bulat, Bi-State Regional Commission
Monday, July 21st Board Meeting
Monday, July 28th Jay Justin, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley
Monday, August 4th Rebecca Valladares, Rock Island County Children's Advocacy Center
Monday, August 11th Chris Van Speybroeck, Children's Therapy Center

Kiwanis Peanut Day at the Rock Island HyVee.

First Tee's Executive Director Sara Cross with Emily Adams and Joan Kranovich.

Our Mission

To Improve the Quality of Life for Children and Families in the Quad Cities and Abroad.

The Kiwanis Club of Rock Island is one part of Kiwanis International, a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world, one community and one child at a time. The Kiwanis Club of Rock Island performs many community service projects in Rock Island to help serve children.

If you are interested in performing community service and helping children in Rock Island, we encourage you to learn more about the Kiwanis Club of Rock Island here on our site and welcome you to join us for a meeting. Check our Information page for information about our meeting day, time and place. Download our brochure.