Kiwanis Club of Stuart Florida Foundation Inc

Kiwanis Club of Stuart aims to find needs in our community geared towards children and fill them. We pride ourselves on our relationships with school guidance counselors and other nonprofit partners. Our main focus is to help prepared 125-150 students for the new school year. We gift new school clothes, shoes, socks and underwear all inside a brand name school backpack. In December, we plan our Shopping with Santa celebration budgeting for 100 children. Again we gift each child $100 to pick out new clothes and shoes. In addition, we present age appropriate books and a few special surprises for the holidays. Finally, we culminate with the celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday and host Pancakes in the Park the first Saturday in March. We feed between 600-700 community members and promote family reading activities all morning.

On top of our special events we are determined to make our Kiwanis Park in downtown Stuart a destination for families. For the past 20 years, we have helped raise half a million dollars to transform our park into an all inclusive family adventure park. By the beginning of 2022, phase two will be completed with a Tot Lot and Sensory Sensitive play area. Phase three playground will appeal to ages 7 and older which will round out our all inclusive park.

The strategy of the Kiwanis Club of Stuart is simple, make a difference in children and family lives in Martin County Florida. We hold weekly meetings to discuss current and future plans and hold board meetings once a month to make sure our budget can handle all the incredible ideas. From learning from 30 plus year members to bringing in a dozen new members in 2021 we are a well oiled machine that keeps gaining strength. New members bring exciting new ideas and experienced members help navigate the ways.

Bringing in a new president every year also helps reignite our passion for our community. A leader can bring personal background knowledge that's different from the past year. It's incredibly energizing to be around a group of individuals from all ages and have one common goal in mind. We want our community to thrive and helping children strive is the best way to keep the momentum moving forward.

Kiwanis has a very dedicated fundraising committee working with the City of Stuart to accomplish our end goal. The City of Stuart owns the land and helps maintain the grounds while Kiwanis raises funds to reach families in need. Local and state grants are written from both parties.

The progress of this incredibly long lasting club comes in waves of new ideas as new members join. Starting in 1938, we were mostly concentrated with volunteering and supporting other nonprofits. For the last twenty years we have put half a million into our park to renovate and upgrade the equipment. Our fundraising efforts include our annual Pancakes in the Park which raises approximately $20,000 and our Christmas ornament sales which bring in about $10,000. As that project continues towards our last phase, we continue to reach hundreds of children through not only our Back to School Picnic and Shopping with Santa events but the everyday use of our amazing park in the middle of downtown Stuart, FL.

We execute all our events at our beloved park in Downtown Stuart. This is the backdrop to all our outreach programs. On top of our special events we are determined to make our Kiwanis Park in downtown Stuart a destination for all families. For the past 20 years, we have helped raise half a million dollars to transform the park into an all inclusive family adventure park. At the beginning of 2022, phase two will be completed with a Tot Lot and Sensory Sensitive play area. The final phase will be a challenging and adventurous playground appealing to ages 7 and older.

This accomplishment will further our ability to engage families in healthy outdoor activities together. Most recently, we have started a new initiative every Saturday of the month. A free family activity is provided under our pavilions to engage adults and children in communication, vocabulary building and creative thinking. As the park transforms we want to invite other nonprofits and organizations to host events for our community to enjoy.