Dr. Bill Gaddis and Kim Futrell represented the Winnfield Kiwanis club at the 106 th Annual LaMissTenn District Convention held in Tupelo, MS. July 26-28. The service project was a book drive for the Tupelo School District. The Kiwanis mission is that one day all children will wake up in a community where they are cared for.

Kim attended breakout sessions on how to get new members and how to retain members. One of their suggestions was to take a prospective member out to lunch or dinner after they have attended a meeting and tell them what Kiwanis does. Another suggestion is to give new members a job so they feel welcome and involved. A child from a K-Kids club spoke at another seminar. This is a primary school Kiwanis club. To start a club in a school you need the involvement of a teacher, the principal and permission from the school board. The cost to the sponsoring club is $400.

Dr. Gaddis attended seminars on child protection and protection of the club. He also attended one about being known in the community. The Winnfield club’s signature project is Terrific Kids which has been going on for over 20 years. There was also a seminar about community partnerships.

In the LaMissTenn district there are 117 clubs. Five clubs closed this year and there have been 3 new clubs with a possibility of 2 more new clubs before October 1. That will keep the district at 117 clubs. There were 216 delegates representing clubs at the convention. These delegates voted on new officers for 2024-25.

Because the meeting was in Tupelo, the Saturday night party featured an Elvis impersonator who everyone enjoyed. Sunday morning there was a prayer breakfast. Both Dr. Gaddis and Kim said it was a very good convention and well attended.

Our Kiwanis mission is that we are a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.