DISTRICT PROJECTS
Major Emphasis
KIWIN'S members currently will focus their time and talents on Live2Learn, specifically focused on 5-9 year old youth, with the main goals of promoting education and building literary skills. This program not only creates endless possibilities to strengthen the common goal of service, but also allows each KIWIN'S member to develop into a well-rounded individual community leader and lifelong advocate for children's education.
LQ KIWIN'S
Between 1973 and 1974, past California-Nevada-Hawaii (CNH) Kiwanis District Governor Sid Smith wanted his daughters to have the option to join a service organization. Key Club was the only one existing at that time, but they weren't able to join because it was an all-male club. Smith wanted his girls to have the same opportunities as men so he started a club called Keyettes.
Our lovely founder is the man on the left!
The name was changed to "Keywanettes" in the mid-70s because a women's organization on the east coast already had the rights to the name. It was through the efforts of the Cal-Nev-Ha district Kiwanis Sponsored Youth Advisors and high school principals that a program be made available to the young women of the community that provides the opportunities that young men had in Key Club.
In the beginning, Keywanettes was the fastest growing high school organization in the nation. There used to be four districts: Texas, West Virginia, the Carolinas, and CNH. However, the Texas, Virginia, and Carolinas District district merged with the Key Club District. Since CNH was so strong, and there was a need for both organizations, CNH remained the only District with both.
Keywanettes became KIWIN'S when the House of Delegates convened at the 1995 CNH Convention. KIWIN'S comes from the Otchipew language and translates to "people, men and women, working together in service." The Cal-Nev-Ha District changed their name to dispel gender specific connotations and promote growth.
In 2001 at the District Convention in Woodland Hills, CA, we made even greater strides when we were adopted into Key Club International as the Cal-Nev-Ha KIWIN'S 32nd District of Key Club International. We became the first ever District to share boundaries with another District, CNH.
Even though we do have unique situation as we share boundaries with CNH, we are all part of the same overarching organization, working toward similar goals. So yes, we are all Key Clubbers. But at the same time, we do maintain a unique culture--as most Districts do– that is extremely unique from that of CNH or any other District.
