I’ve been a very dedicated Kiwanian since 1983. It’s an organization that makes service to others it’s highest priority. As a matter of fact, our mission statement is “Kiwanis is an international organization of volunteers, dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time.” I doubt that anyone would argue that our mission is not worthy.
At the close of the Twentieth Century, Kiwanis had realized that it had an identity problem. People seemednot to know us and what we do! I actually found people who thought Kiwanis was a New Zealand airline or a fuzzy green fruit? Under the leadership of Kiwanis International President Dr. Will Blechman we decided to work on being more readily identified in peoples minds. Prior to that time we had a practice of creating “A Major Emphasis” in the year of each incoming International President. A new International President would introduce us to a public service endeavor that he encouraged us to work on during his year in office. Many clubs around the world would adopt the program and perhaps continue it after the introducing president had finished the one year term. Dr. Blechman and the international board felt that standardizing our mission would help people know better what we stand for and they introduced a Major Emphasis that was permanent: Young Child Priority One. It wasn’t really much of a change. One of the first service projects of the Detroit #1 club, founded in 1915, was exactly in that vein. They adopted a young boy in a broken home and cared for him financially and with leadership until his circumstances improved. So Young Child Priority One was a natural.
The organizational structure of Kiwanis bears note, as it provides the framework of the story I’m relating. At the top of the organization is the individual member. Members organize into clubs, clubs into divisions, divisions into districts and districts into Kiwanis International. I had the good fortune to be elected Lt. Governer-Elect of the Seventh Division, Capital District in 1990. A Lt. Governor-Elect, absent untoward behavior, will succeed his predecessor at the conclusion of the Lt. Governor’s term on September 30th after a year of service. So the Lt. Governor has a at least full year to plan the goals and projects for the term that will be filled.
The year I became Lt. Governor-Elect, the State of Delaware was not getting good press. In all the states of the USA, Delaware was 49th in low birth weight, ultra-low birth-weight and infant mortality. Only Mississippi and the District of Columbia were worse. Since “Young Child Priority One” concentrated on pre-natal through age five, this was in the heart of our mission and we hoped we could help in some way. We asked our YCPO partners for assistance and the March of Dimes was eager to participate. They provided the meeting site. We started frequent meetings, sometimes several in a month, in cooperation with the March of Dimes, the Delaware Department of Health and Human Services, United Way, the Key Clubs we sponsored, our Circle K Chapter and the ten clubs in Division Seven. We learned the cause of the problem: the at risk population — typically the disadvantaged — did not seek pre-natal care. That was deadly.
Kiwanis had a blanket umbrella insurance policy for service projects. It seemed logical that each club had outreach capabilities in their service areas that could be exploited in finding these at-risk ladies, speaking with them to encourage OB-Gyn appointments and driving them to the appointment, if necessary, taking full advantage of the Kiwanis Umbrella Liability coverage. All ten clubs agreed and we were to call the project “Adopt a Mom.” A couple clubs set up Baby Showers as well. We were excited at the prospects and I was looking forward to the start of my year as Lt. Governor stating in six weeks by that time.
It wasn’t going to be smooth, however. I received a phone call from DHSS, one of our partners in the inception of the project, asking me for the name of our paid administrator for the Adopt a Mom program. “Oh, Kiwanis is a totally volunteer organization,” I responded. “But the State of Delaware will not work with volunteers,” I was told, “you need a paid administrator and you should be able to show then at least two years salary in the bank — a number that should be about $70,000, if you’re going to be competitive.” I mentioned that this might have been discussed in the past 18 months.
With only six weeks left before we were planning to start this program, I was feeling a bit of panic. I reached out to a fellow Kiwanian who’d been my Community Service chair when I was President of the Kiwanis Club of Wilmington, a fellow named Paul Calistro.
“Van, you’re jumping up and down of a group of not-for-profit organization’s toes! You can’t hear them but I can. Second, the state of Delaware will wrap you up in so much red tape you’ll not be able to move,” said Mr. Calistro. There was no doubt that Mr. Calistro was in my camp. He and his spouse had experienced a still-birth that year. I thanked him for his encouragement and asked him to call me if he could find any way at all to save the program. I had to wait almost two weeks for that phone call.
The call began, “Van, it’s Paul. I’m going to do it.” Calistro was the Executive Director of the West End Neighborhood House, a century old community outreach program. In their mostly unfinished basement area, they boasted an office of WIC already. With the help of a challenge financial grant from MBNA and a match from United Way, they turned Adopt a Mom to a prenatal care program called “Tiny Steps.” Remodeling the basement, they created a waiting room, a day care for existing families, two examining rooms, a data processing center and an administrative office. I was drafted for the Board of Directors by Mr. Calistro. He mumbled something about me owing them my help, since it was my idea. Out Kiwanis Clubs maintained their participation with those baby showers and other assistance to the project.
We were pleased at the effects of the program. It was successful beyond our wildest dreams, raising the average birthweight in the State of Delaware. But I owe some elucidation on the title “Service is More Than It’s Own Reward!” The lady who was chosen to administer the Tiny Steps program is now my wife. We started speaking as she would call me with one of these type of questions: “Does any Kiwanis Club have some money in its service budget?” I would scurry about to see if a club wanted to fund stuff: pampers, prescription drugs, onesies, baby food and other goodies that babies need. It grew to a friendship and, after her husband’s death in 1995 made her a widow, we eventually stated dating. I asked her to go out because I’d had a relationship end and didn’t want to get involved with ANYBODY. She accepted for the same reason. We were married in 2000, after I got the “No” to turn to “Yes” when I proposed. I have never been so rewarded by a service project aimed at helping others.