Kiwanis Club of Aurora Has Ambitious Plans For Coming Year
Kiwanis Club of Aurora members sorting coats for the Fri. Oct. 27 delivery of some 2,000 coats to Aurora schools. (CREDIT: Kiwanis Club of Aurora)
In the pantheon of local service organizations, it’s always good to see when a club is growing and thriving.
So it is with the Kiwanis Club of Aurora, which in recent years has increased its membership to 102 and is the sponsor of new Kiwanis clubs in Oswego and Yorkville.
This week, the club announced the installation of its new leadership team for the 2017-18 administrative year. The club’s new president is John Ross. Ross replaces Aurora Alderman Bill Donnell. Kim Groom assumes the office of president-elect. New board members are Jenna Hahn, Sharon Mewmaw, and Fred Neumann.
Ross
The new president hopes to increase the club’s current membership of 102 and expand its role in the community through its Student Leadership Program in Aurora schools. He also has a goal to develop new service projects.
For more than 12 years, Ross has been the facilitator for Aurora Christian Ministry Network, a group of clergy and religious leaders. He also serves on the board of Wayside Cross Ministries, of which he is a past president. And he is a member of the Fox Valley Christian Ministerial Alliance.
During the school season, Ross serves as a mentor for elementary children at his church. He also has been working with the Jesse “the Law” Torres Boxing Club, bringing “Rock Steady” classes to Aurora to fight Parkinson’s disease.
For 19 years Ross was involved in Aurora with the June children’s festival, Celebrate Our Children. In 2005, he began the movement to re-energize Children’s Day on the second Sunday in June (www.nationalchildrensday.us). Presently, Illinois and the cities of Aurora and Batavia, and several other states and municipalities have recognized and promote Children’s Day. In 2009, knowing Ross’s passion for children and Children’s Day, Kiwanian Barrett Hickerson invited him to join the Kiwanis Club of Aurora.
Club Invites Applicants for Children’s Grants
The Kiwanis Club of Aurora invites all non-profits that are serving Aurora children to apply for a community grant. The grant deadline is Nov. 15, 2017. For more information visit the Aurora Kiwanis website.
About the Aurora Kiwanis
Founded on Sept. 9, 1916, the Aurora club was the first club in the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District and the 21st club chartered in the world. Since that time, Kiwanis has grown to more than 8,500 clubs and membership in excess of 320,000. Kiwanis is in more than 90 nations or geographic areas. The Kiwanis Club of Aurora presently has 102 members. The club is also the sponsor of new Kiwanis clubs in Oswego and Yorkville.
