Circle K Motto:
"We Build."
this also happens to be the motto of Kiwanis International.
General
Circle K International is the world's largest collegiate community service organization. It is present on hundreds of college and university campuses and has over 11,000 members who contribute all sorts of hours of community service annually. It should also be noted that there is a distinct difference between "Circle K the Service Club" and "Circle K the Convenience Store."
Affiliation
Circle K International is a sponsored program of Kiwanis International. This organization is akin to Key Club International, Builders Club, and K-Kids... all for different age groups, though. All of these organizations make up an unofficial institution known as the Kiwanis Family.
Structure
Each individual club has the typical club officers: President, Vice-president, Secretary, Treasurer, representatives and committee chairs.
CKI Chapters are organized into Divisions, each of which is headed up by a Lt. Governor. Divisions are to clubs as counties are to cities. Kinda.
A group of divisions make up a District. Districts each have a Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Bulletin Editor, Lt. Governors (see above), and committee chairs. Some Districts include: Alabama, Texas-Oklahoma, New England, Capitol, and California-Nevada-Hawaii. There are thirty such districts. (As per the previous analogy, think of Districts as States)
The International Level consists of a President, Vice-president, and nine (9) Trustees.
<opinion>
It should also be noted that, while politics exist any time you have people (arguably, of course), the Politics in Circle K aren't nearly as bad as those in Key Club International (another Kiwanis Sponsored Program).
</opinion>
Aims
Circle K International places emphasis on three main areas:
Service: Rendering selfless service to those who possess a basic need for said services. One of the primary foci is on service to children. Additionally, CKI was instrumental in Kiwanis' fight against Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD), the world's largest cause of preventable mental retardation in children.
Leadership: The development of leadership skills in its membership is very important to CKI. To that end, countless leadership positions are offered on the International, District, and individual Club levels.
Fellowship: Simply put, we like to have fun.
Historical
Originally started as a way for the Pullman Washington Kiwanis Club to help students attending Washington State College, it eventually transitioned into a community service based organization. The first club was chartered in 1947 at Carthage College (then) in Carthage, Illinois.
The first annual convention was held in 1954 at Carthage in October, just months after the delegates at the Kiwanis International Convention failed to organize Circle K as an official sponsored program. Roughly a year later, after much ado, Kiwanis International granted official international recognition to Circle K International.
In 1973 Circle K International became the first member of the Kiwanis Family to admit women into membership. This is widely regarded as the smartest thing they ever did.
Circle K Pledge
I pledge to uphold the objects of Circle K International;
To foster compassion and goodwill to others through service and leadership;
To develop my abilities and the abilities of all people;
and to dedicate myself to the realization of mankind's potential.
Attribution
This node contains information that could, at some point, become dated. All information herein was pulled from memory or gleaned from http://www.circlek.org. all mistakes are my own damn fault.
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