For many people, philanthropy is seen as a necessary burden—something they know they should do but aren’t completely invested in. They understand the importance of helping others, but they don’t understand what it means in their own lives.
Eastern Michigan University’s Circle K International is dedicated to helping students at EMU discover themselves and new friends through helping others.
According to Rachel Webster, president of the EMU chapter, Circle K is an international organization of college students affiliated with Kiwanis. The Ypsilanti Kiwanis acts as the sponsor for the EMU chapter.
“Circle K is based on three tenets which [are] service, leadership and fellowship,” Webster said. “So, our plan is to do community service and through doing service and helping our community, we develop leadership skills and we also make long-lasting friendships.”
Over the last several decades, the group has been involved with a multitude of service projects throughout southeastern Michigan, including cleaning up parks in Ypsilanti, helping out with Ypsi Pride Day and planting trees in Detroit.
But the group’s main focus is working with children.
“We’ve started working with the Wild Swan Theater, which is a theater group that provides professional theater for kids with disabilities or kids with economic problems that can’t experience theater normally,” Webster said.
Located near Washtenaw Community College, the Wild Swan Theater has been putting on professional productions for children for the last 29 years.
“We do basic things like helping with ushering and their concession stand, but just anything to help their organization,” Webster added.
Another organization the group is involved with is the Corner Health Center, located on Huron Street in Ypsilanti, which helps teenagers become responsible for their own health.
Affiliated with St. Joe’s and the University of Michigan Health System, the Corner Health Center provides health services as well as wide range of educational programs.
“They’ll have sessions that moms can go to, to learn different things about being a mom,” Webster said. “What we do, is every year we have a baby shower where we’ll invite people from different clubs in our district from Michigan, and they’ll come and donate gifts and then we’ll have food and kind of like games that you’d have at a baby shower. But the point is so that they donate gifts to the Corner Health Center. So we have that every year.”
The group is trying to put together a similar program with the Washtenaw County Humane Society, which would collect supplies for their new facility.
Circle K also helps out with the annual Ann Arbor street art performance Festifools, which happens in April. The event brings hundreds of volunteers and participants onto the streets of Ann Arbor for a parade complete with costumes and giant papier-mâché puppets. In the past, members of Circle K have operated the puppets.
“What we’re planning on trying to do this year is actually working with an elementary class to have them help make a puppet themselves,” Webster said. “We’ll go to the class and they can make sock puppets or something out of paper plates and they can incorporate it into the parade. So they’re kind of interacting with us even further by helping to create their own art work.”
The group is involved with dozens of other volunteer organizations and community service events throughout the year. This month, they will be participating in the Greening of Detroit and volunteering for a series of events at the Leslie Science Center.
At EMU, the group will be working with Gathering Resources to Educate about our Environment and Nature GREEN to improve recycling in buildings on campus.
Becoming a new member is easy. Students aren’t required to participate in every event, and can attend only the ones they have time for.
“There’s no requirements except just a love for helping out in our community. That’s all we ask for,” Webster said.
The group meets Mondays at 8:30 p.m. in Student Center room 352 and invites anyone interested in joining to attend. New member induction will take place on November 16.
For more information on upcoming events or how to get involved, visit the group at www.emustudentorgs.com or e-mail them at emucirclek@gmail.com.
