The International Kiwanis is geared toward the children of the world, and that emphasis trickles down to Fayette County.

It is a service organization for men and women desiring personal involvement in the leadership and improvement of their communities.

Division 23 is located in Fayette, Coweta, and south Fulton counties and includes 10 Kiwanis clubs.

Each of the state's 24 divisions is governed by a Lt. Governor and the current office is held by Greg Hall, a member of the Peachtree City Kiwanis Club.

He regularly visits all the clubs in his district as well as assists in the sponsorship of clubs for young people in the four educational levels: K-Kids in the elementary schools, Builders Clubs in the middle schools, Key Clubs in the high schools, and Circle K clubs at colleges and universities.

The Metro Fayette Kiwanis Club meets each Tuesday at noon at the IHOP in Fayetteville. It was chartered in 1977 and currently has over 40 members.

Heavy emphasis is placed on fund raising events, and the money raised is distributed among 10 county non-profit organizations.

Another area of this club is the Margaret Vail Scholarship Fund. Vail was a long-time member and very active in the community until her death in October 2005.

Metro Fayette has a Key Club at both Sandy Creek and Whitewater high schools. Applications are taken each year, and this year a $500 scholarship went to Angela Grant at Whitewater and Abby Alexander at Sandy Creek.

Book bags are given each fall to DFACS and are filled with paper, pencils, a fuzzy animal, socks and a book, all for children up to age five.

It has Kiwanis clubs at Tyrone Elementary, Flat Rock Middle, Whitewater Middle, Sandy Creek High and Whitewater High schools. The school children meet weekly and hold various fund raising events, with the funds given to local charities.

Children are taken once a year in the spring to watch a session of the Georgia Legislature called Roam the Dome. They look forward each year to meeting their legislators.

Some of the comments from the children were: “Roam the Dome was an amazing experience and you made it all possible;” “Thank you so much for letting us come to the dome;” “The tour was lots of fun and I hope we can go next year;” and “This trip has been a great experience for me, because all the time there we were able to understand how the voting of a bill goes.”

For information on the Metro Fayette Club, call John Miller at 770-461-2025.

The Peachtree City Kiwanis Club, which was organized in 1971, meets each Monday morning at the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center at 7 a.m.

Among the fund raising events the club holds is the annual talent show, which allowed $4,000 to be given in scholarships to local high schools this year.

Donations were also given to the Southwest Christian Hospice, Hope House, and Promise Place.

For information on the Peachtree City Kiwanis Club, call Tom Beckham at 770-632-0647.

Fayette County’s oldest club is the Fayette County Kiwanis. It meets the first and third Tuesday nights of each month at 7 p.m. at the IHOP in Fayetteville. The club was chartered in 1951, and currently has about 35 members.

The Fayette County Kiwanis sponsors three K-Kids clubs including one at Sara Harp Elementary, one at Fayette Intermediate Elementary, and one at Burch Elementary.

This year’s fund raising activities allowed for a $1,000 donation to the Fayette County Board of Education for an automatic defibrillator; a $5,000 donation to A Better Way Ministries, a work study program for teenage boys with alcohol/drug dependencies and other life-controlling issues; as well as funds for the Children's Miracle Network and the March of Dimes/Walk America.

For information on the Fayette County Kiwanis Club, call Fred Weaver at 770-461-0014.

The McIntosh Trail Kiwanis was chartered just this past April. It meets each Tuesday at noon at the Original Pancake House in Peachtree City. For information on the McIntosh Trail Club, call Phil Boswell at 404-886-7001.

The Peachtree City Golden K is a club for retired Kiwanians. It meets each Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the Gathering Place Senior Center. It was chartered in 1991. For information on the Golden K Club, call Joe Chrisman at 770-486-3813.

Lt. Gov. Hall said that he is looking into re-establishing the club in Tyrone. Those interested can call him at 678-232-5635.

If you believe in exemplifying good citizenship in appreciation of the fact that the strength of the nation depends upon the caliber of its individual citizens, then call one of the above phone numbers and become a Kiwanian.

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