The Kiwanis Club of Apache Junction answered the request for help from one of its own, Capt. Darla Malone of the Salvation Army, to help send kids off to school for the 2021-22 school year.

As the motto of Kiwanis International says, “serving the children of the world,” we helped fill more than 125 backpacks for the Salvation Army to distribute out to students that requested them.

We filled the backpacks with two snacks, one bottle of water, folders, notebooks, pencils, color pencils, pens, crayons and rulers.

All items were donated brand new to the Salvation Army from local businesses or donated by club members themselves.

Kiwanis began in 1915 and has its headquarters to Indianapolis. We are found in over 90 countries covering Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, Central and South America and of course the U.S.A.

Kiwanis performs missions throughout the world including most countries where there are no Kiwanis clubs. We have helped the UNICEF organization provide iodine in countries where their soils have little or no iodine which without iodine causes thyroid diseases.

For the past 10 plus years we have been involved in a project called “Eliminate” which is to combat maternal neo-natal tetanus. This is a painful and devastating disease that is always fatal. If a newborn makes it through the birthing process, it usually only lives up to three days but that life is not worth it. The babies are in such pain where the slightest touch or movement even from breathing causes the child excruciating pain and even the mothers cannot hold their children. Through donations from Kiwanis, pre-neonatal tetanus has been “eliminated” in hundreds of countries through a series of shots given to women-bearing years.

We invite you to join our Kiwanis Club which meets at 5:30 p.m. the fourth Thursday of the month at the Salvation Army chapel off of Broadway in Apache Junction. Our meetings usually only last up to an hour.

In high school you might recall the Key Club which allows high schoolers to learn to become leaders. It is this leadership potential which is why the U.S. Army has partnered up with Kiwanis. There are clubs in elementary schools K-Kids, junior high school Builders Club, college called Circle K and for adults with various disabilities called AKTION. As you can see, we start kids off early to learn to be leaders.

Editor’s note: Art Fesler-Butts is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Apache Junction.