What Happens When We’re Gone?
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 call it quits. And that will happen from time to time. Last week 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 reasons 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 year 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. Also last week the Kiwanis Club of Kelowna, which has only 16 members, announced they were selling the Kiwanis Senior 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 (3 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, some programs would have to shut down, the list is extensive. Thousands of dollars is 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. We have lunch meetings twice a month, and our Boards of Directors (BOD) meet separately on two other occasions. Very little business is carried out at the lunch meetings, they are basically, social gatherings with reports on Club activities. What we look for in new members is ideas, those of us who have been around for a time, need fresh input. New ideas of what we might be able to do in the community.
One of things we as a Club would like to do is have some “hands on” projects similar to what our friends down in Winthrop, WA and many other Kiwanis Clubs do. Our problem is we don’t have the membership to carry out those projects. If there are young adults, with ideas of “hands on” projects in the community, they need to step forward and join us. We can only do so much, with what we have. The Letter to the Editor in this week’s Osoyoos Times by the Past President of the Osoyoos Rotary Club hits the nail on the head. Too many Service Clubs are dying for lack of support from the Community.
We really enjoy what we do for the community and seriously hope we will be able to continue to serve the Oliver community. But if we don’t get an infusion of younger members we may not be able to offer our services. For further information on Kiwanis call the Club Secretary, Rosemary Pritchard at 250-498-0426.
Peter Morrow