Whether it's recent literary heroes like Lemong Snicket and Harry Potter or age-old book stars such as Dr. Seuss and Robinson Caruso, there's no denying the positive influence books have on children's lives.
The Kiwanis Club of Springtime City in Clearwater will join more than 8,000-plus other clubs in North America committed to helping children celebrate the joy of reading. Kiwanis International launched the Read Around The World service project based on a national study of nearly 100,000 school children that found access to printed materials - and not poverty - is the "critical variable affecting reading acquisition."
As part of the Kiwanis Read Around The World, The Kiwanis Club of Springtime City in Clearwater provided very special and unique animal hard-cover books for 55 Head Start students. The kids made a poster board of Yellow Hand Prints with Happy Faces saying Thank You to the Kiwanis Club.
For 15 years, Mort Bonesteel, Past District Kiwanis governor of Indiana, leads his club's Head Start efforts. One of the club's newest members, Margaret Rutkowski, recently attending an afternoon meeting with the parents of Reconciler Head Start. She shared that the parents are very thankful for the Kiwanis involvement. Special recognition was made to the "male" Kiwanians readers as most of the children do not have a male role model.
The club's major projects focus on children including Head Start, annual children's health fair, college scholarships and sponsorship of school youth service organizations. The club meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Oriental Super Buffet on Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. For more information call 418-6601 or visit www.kiwanis.org/club/springtimecity.