The activities conducted by the Nagoya Kiwanis Club include those that are in line with the objectives of Kiwanis International, such as cooperation/support for the Kiwanis International Foundation, Initiatives to Eradicate IDD (Iodine Deficiency Disorders), and the Rainbow Project (support of developing nations), as well as many other activities it conducts on its own.
Kiwanis Public Welfare Award
The Kiwanis Public Welfare Award is awarded every spring to those who have dedicated themselves over long periods of time to the improvement of public welfare. The purpose of the award is to pay our respects to the achievements made by these persons and to help publicize their invaluable presence.
Last year, the 33rd Nagoya Kiwanis Public Welfare Award Ceremony was held on April 26, at the 1690th Regular Meeting. The recipient, the Chubu Guide Dogs Association (1-70-4 Juichiya, Minato-ku, Nagoya; Chairman, Hiroshi Kansaku.), was awarded a certificate of commendation and a prize of \1,000,000.
Kiwanis Book Donation Drive
The Nagoya Kiwanis Club is very concerned about the recent trend for children to have an alienation toward reading. And it wants to foster a love of books and reading in young children in the future. With this wish in mind, the Club conducts various activities to donate books to children.
The Nagoya Kiwanis Club recently donated \500,000 worth of books and reading material to special schools for the disabled in Aichi Prefecture that have educational classroom instruction (6 hospitals and 1 care facility) as well as to the Aichi Children’s Medical and Heath Center (ACHEMEC).
Funding for this Kiwanis book drive comes from our donation chest called the “Happy Box” and is furnished through the contributions of Kiwanis members. Money received during the charity bazaar held at our annual family Christmas event and from the system where members voluntarily make donations on or around their birthday at regular meetings, goes towards the community service activities conducted by the Club.
Other Activities
Family-Education Speech Program in line with “Young Children : Priority One”
As part of activities related to Kiwanis International’s service program titled Young Children : Priority One which addresses the needs of children, the Nagoya Kiwanis Club has for many years served as co-sponsor of speech forums organized by the Nagoya City Board of Education. PTA organizations from primary and junior-high schools in Nagoya City participate in this program, and it has continued to be promoted focusing on themes such as ‘the ideal nature of family education’ and ‘the role of parents/the way child discipline should be handled,’ and other issues.
This year a speech by Ms. Michiko Yamamoto was given.
Co-sponsoring “The Fifth Nagoya Child-Rearing Forum”
Recently, the number of parents/guardians who feel at a loss regarding how to raise their children has been increasing, and they often experience uneasiness or anxiety about child-rearing and lack someone close by to turn to for advice. This Forum was launched by the Nagoya City Early-Childhood Research Association in order to create opportunities that will allow parents/guardians to become aware of the joys of child-rearing. This year a speech was presented by Ms. Masami Ohinata.