Community Support

The Kiwanis vision is “Kiwanis will be a positive influence in communities worldwide — so that one day, all children will wake up in communities that believe in them, nurture them and provide the support they need to thrive.”

The Florence Kiwanis Club has supported the following projects in the past. Our Kiwanis members work diligently to raise funds to help these organizations achieve our common goals.

*Headstart Fall Harvest Celebration

For years, the Kiwanis Club members have hosted an impromptu “pumpkin patch” for the Head Start students. During the Covid years, we were unable to interact with the students but the Club continues to provide the pumpkins for this Head Start event.

*Headstart Student Needs Fund

The Kiwanis Club donates funds to cover unforeseen needs for the students.

*Children’s books to Siuslaw School District, Mapleton School District or Siuslaw Public Library

When the Kiwanis Club has a guest speaker at one of the meetings, in lieu of the speaker receiving a pen or certificate, they are asked to sign a library book that is then donated to one of the libraries mentioned here.

*Recognition to local high school graduates

*Siuslaw Elementary School & Mapleton Elementary School student needs funds

The Kiwanis Club donates funds to cover unforeseen needs for the students.

*KDCCP

Kiwanis Doernbecher Children’s Cancer Program (KDCCP) is a 501C3 non profit organization.

They are dedicated to ending children’s cancer through Kiwanis support of the Pediatric Hematology / Oncology Fellowship Program at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

Florence Kiwanis members raise funds at various events for this valuable OHSU fellowship.

*Boys and Girls Club

The mission statement of the Boys & Girls Club is “To inspire and enable all youth, K-12, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens by providing stimulating and challenging programs through interactions with dedicated, caring people. The Boys & Girls Club of Western Lane County fills the gap between school and home. The Club provides a safe welcoming environment where youth can have fun, participate in skill-building programs, and build supportive relationships with peers and caring adults.”

The Boys & Girls Club of America is supported by Kiwanis International at that level. The Kiwanis Club of Florence therefore willingly and happily supports the Boys & Girls Club of Florence.

*Mapleton SD Farm to Table

*Fresh Impression Art Show

The art show includes work from our Siuslaw Middle School and Siuslaw High School creative art and pottery students.  The show is open to the public and Kiwanis is one of the financial sponsors.

*Dental Van to elementary schools

*Kiwanis Winter Childrens Concert

The Mission of the FACE Florence Winter Music Festival is to bring the richness, variety, and storytelling of today’s acoustic music to the community, provide music-related educational opportunities to our schools, and support the operation of the Florence Events Center. The Florence Kiwanis Club sponsors the Childrens’ Concert providing folk music and folk music education to the youth of Florence, Mapleton and Reedsport.

*Soroptimist Christmas Basket giveaway

*Siuslaw Pioneer Museum 

The Siuslaw Pioneer Museum presents and preserves the local history of Florence and the Siuslaw Region.  The Kiwanis Club of Florence helped preserve this history by donating to the installation of an automatic fire suppression system which protects the irreplaceable artifacts.

When you visit the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum in Florence you will be transported through time by a diversity of exhibits showing slices of life from before white settlers made their way to the Siuslaw Region up to life in the 1950s. From an authentic dug-out canoe, and first-people’s tools and apparel, to household items of pioneer homesteaders; from early logging and fishing implements to the control panel once used by the drawbridge operator; and one of the first telephone switchboards.

Learn about the hardscrabble life of those who started the logging and fishing industries around Florence in the mid- to late-1800s and see examples of the delicate side of life through the place settings and handiwork of lace and quiltmakers.

*Food Share Florence/Mapleton 

Florence Food Share is a nonprofit food pantry located in Florence, Oregon, that provides food free of charge to those in need. We serve the Florence community and the wider surrounding areas. We are a shopping style pantry focusing on client dignity, choice, and empowerment; we do this by providing a grocery store shopping experience that places the decision-making in the shopper’s hands. This is all made possible by a group of committed volunteers, a dedicated board of directors, and amazing community supporters.

Mapleton Food Share’s mission is simple: To help supplement the food needs of our community in a way that provides healthy meals to patrons and their families, and a comfortable, non-threatening shopping experience.  With a small group of volunteers, and a lot of community support, they opened their doors in 2012.

The Kiwanis Club of Florence helps both of these organizations by donating food and funds to help fill their pantries.