Cal-Nev-Ha KIWIN'S Club | 32nd District of Key Club International
Cal-Nev-Ha Circle K International | Kiwanis International
It all began in high school. KIWIN'S was the time the once shy little Chloe was given a chance to cheer her heart out and meet the most interesting and capable people. Being the KIWIN'S Club President of Glen A. Wilson High School pushed me to extremes that developed my spirit, my confidence, and most importantly, my voice. I developed the need to think big, to do more, and to speak out. I realized my potential. Since then, serving, leading, and loving my community became my way of living. In college, I continued in the Kiwanis Family onto Circle K International.
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| After the Awards Ceremony with my home division - Goldstone! |
I knew I wanted to engage myself at the divisional level right off the bat. I began my first year as an Executive Assistant of our division - the Foothill Division - which comprised of 9 colleges/universities located between Glendale and Claremont. At the time, we were considered the underdog division averaging around 5-20 attendees at our monthly Divisional Council Meetings. These really were humble beginnings.
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| Nearly 20 Foothillians at Fall Training Conference 2012! |
During that first year, I fell in love with the last lines of the Circle K Pledge: "To dedicate myself to the realization of humankind's potential." For the first time in three years, I became the first elected Foothill Division Lt. Governor. I started off my term with three main objectives: to develop club continuity, to instill unity, and to organize personally-connected service projects. My secret goal, however, was that very last line of the pledge - it was to get people to realize what they had in them. I wanted to spark something in the lives of others to begin their own journeys of dream-seeking.
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| On stage with the newly-elected Executive Officers of the Cal-Nev-Ha CKI District Board at DCON 2012. |
With my weekdays filled with e-mails, board meetings, and endless promotions, my weekends were booked with service events, fundraisers, divisional council meetings, officer training and just so much more. In the midst of this jam-packed schedule, there were several events that really made my term uniquely my term.
One of those events was the 626 Night Market, which is the largest Asian festival night market in the United States. In July 2013, the Foothill Division hosted a service event helping out the second 626 Night Market held at Pasadena City Hall. This two-day event was designed like a combination of a farmer's market and a street festival/fair except it was held in the evening -- an event reminiscent of the traditional Asian night markets. The 626 Night Market was not just an opportunity for community members to appreciate Asian culture and enjoy a festive evening , but it also served to raise awareness and support for causes like Helping Janet (registering bone marrow donors to help Janet and other patients fight Leukemia) and the 626 Movemeant (supporting youth empowerment through art and entertainment).
Combined, Circle K and Key Club brought about 173 volunteers to this large-scale event. Both youth groups had a ton of fun meeting one another and working together at the event. I'm very thankful for all the advisers and administrators who helped with the paperwork and, of course, all those who came out to volunteer.
Although the 626 group had very little budget to prepare for their event, they took great care of us, providing us with pizza, water and lychee drinks, a table, a commercial-grade and fire retardant tent, a fire extinguisher, and 626 volunteer T-shirts. We've also received endless words of appreciation and acknowledgment from the 626 staff, Yelp reviews, and Facebook comments:
Yelp: "Also, it made me happy to see all the high school-looking-aged kids with the red 626 night market t shirts. They always had tons of energy and looked like they had a lot of fun keeping lines in order and taking pictures."
Yelp: "What amazed me the most were the volunteers in red shirts who actively helped keep the line management in check while allowing passers by a chance to actually read what the vendors were selling without appearing to "cut" in front of others."
626 Staff Coordinator: "I can't tell you all, not only how happy I was to have you all help us, but incredibly proud. Not only has your enthusiasm, initiative, and professionalism been raved about on Yelp, but through the mouths of our vendors, guests, and Facebook wall. This just proves once again that the K-Family not only just brings quality service, but spunk, spirit, and a sense of rambunctiousness that just makes it so much fun for anyone to be around you guys.
Thank you again for helping our night market make such an incredible comeback."
626 Staff Coordinator: "I still can't get over how awesome the volunteers were..."
Though I've personally received many positive remarks about how unexpectedly successful the event went, I don't think I deserve that credit. All I've done was sent a bunch of e-mails to the right people to ask for help. The real work was performed by the volunteers themselves. I'd like to give special thanks to the chaperons, who've made it possible for the Key Clubbers to attend, and the lieutenant governors that helped me with all the behind-the-scenes work. As one of the organizers of the event, seeing both Kiwanis family volunteers and Online Inquiries volunteers (just other volunteer groups) really made me realize how much more passionate the K-family is about service in our community. At a place where so many of us were gathered to help out, I saw so much youthful spirit and positive attitude that I felt I was losing in the midst of my own administrative work. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but I mean it. This was refreshing.
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| The 2nd ever 626 Night Market by JLieu Photography. |
The third 626 Night Market happened in October 2012 at the Santa Anita Race Track. This time the division coordinated volunteers and a Phoenix Funnel Cake Booth. Preparing for a food stand was not, by any means, an easy task. In the end, the team made it through the shifts and Circle K raised a whopping $2000 that went towards our future charity projects and donations.
Talk about 3rd 626 Night Market here... (started the Phoenix Funnel Cakes)
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| The Phoenix Funnel Cake crew at the 3rd ever 626 Night Market. |
Fall Training Conference is a district event where members gather in the mountains of Sonora, California for a weekend of workshops, speeches, campfire skits and talent acts, awards and light ceremonies, a fashion show, a dance dance, and insane cheer-offs. This is the second largest district event in the history of Circle K International and it is where new members get to see what Circle K at the district level is really about. As mentioned above, we had almost 20 members at FTC. In November 2013, we had 70 total attendees from 8 out of our 9 clubs.
A few years ago, Foothill underwent a "Golden Age" led by past Lt. Governor Nitt Chuenprateep. Before his time, the division wasn't doing so well. The division went from the "Foothill Fatties" to the "Foothill Rocks". Nitt transformed it to the Foothill Phoenixes. A few years later, my predecessor, past Lt. Governor Christian Tolosa, wanted to bring back that time and led the division as the "Rebirth of the Phoenixes". In my year, I emphasized the theme: "The Phoenix Rises". This, indeed, is a reference to "The Dark Knight Rises", but it represents a single entity making a significant world-changing comeback. The theme demonstrated unity and growth. I'm proud to say that at FTC that year, the Foothill Phoenix did rise.
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| The Foothill Phoenixes at Fall Training Conference 2012! |
The Foothill Division is famous for one large event, which is GO WEST. As an annual social-benefit-service event, GO WEST is primarily hosted by Pasadena City College Circle K and serves to bring members from all over the district (in California, Nevada, and Hawaii) to help decorate the Kiwanis Rose Floats and to help with neighboring community events (ie. the Kidspace Children's Museum). This video (by 13-14 CNH Circle K District Governor Sean Dylan Nguyen) sums up what the Kiwanis Rose Float section of GO WEST is all about:
Since the Cal-Nev-Ha district is so incredibly large (with approximately 2,563 members in 54 clubs), hosting district events is quite the task. Unlike other district events, GO WEST is hosted during winter vacation leaving students stress-free and happy to inter-mingle. The first night, which easily is my favorite, is the traditional massive broomball social.
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| CNH at the largest broomball social in CKI in Pasadena, CA! |
Since I was the founder of Club Cafe [link will be provided soon] in high school, I wanted to host larger benefit concerts. In February 2013, the Foothill Division hosted
Read about the ELIMINATE Project or watch a video about it here:
There is plenty more I want to talk about once winter break begins!
Until then!
--Spring, 2014
Chloe Shih
