We are slowly making progress in preparing for the move of our District Office. We hope to move the weekend of November 15th to the following location:

6161 Busch Blvd, Ste 220

Columbus, OH 43229-2554

Beginning November 1st, please use this new address for all mail being sent to the Ohio District Kiwanis Office. Much to our regret, the local phone and fax numbers will also be changing. The toll free number will stay the same at (888) 827-8916. As soon as we have the new phone numbers, we will relay that information to all of you.

Dave Whiteman

The 2009 District Convention Committee met for the first time in Dayton, Ohio last evening to begin planning our 2009 District Convention. Please place this important Kiwanis Meeting on your calendar. The District faces many important issues and the presence of our club delegates is critical. The convention will be held from August 14-16, 2009 at the Crown Plaza Dayton Hotel, 33 E. Fifth Street, Dayton, Ohio. We hope to see you all in Dayton.

Beginning with the end of the 2007-08 Kiwanis Year, all clubs who have previously not had to file a Form 990 with the Federal Government due to the fact that their Gross Receipts were under $25,000, will now need to file a Form 990-N. The 990-N is an information return only and it must be filed electronically. For more information I would suggest you go to the following link: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=169250,00.html

Clubs who fail to file this form for 3 successive years are in danger of losing their "tax exempt" status. If you do not know your IRS issued Employer Identification Number, please call the district office at (888) 827-8196. We have the number of most clubs in  the district.

WOW!  What a great District Convention.

We just completed one of the best attended conventions in the last few years. According to those attending that I talked with, everyone had an educational and rewardingweekend. We started off with the Friday Fun Night where we joined in cheering on our favorite teams as they played "Name That Tune." The winners received Olympic style medals.

Motivational speaker Brendon Burchard gave a great talk on Friday night. His message was inspirational and parts of it were quoted throughout the weekend by forum presenters and others. His book was sold out with the profits going to Kiwanis.

The Forums on Saturday were well attended and each and every presenter did a fantastic job. I want to thank them for their contributions that made the convention the success that it was. 

The Delegate Assembly went quite well. Officers were elected and resolutions were passed. The most important resloution and tribute of all brought many of us to tears. We paid a special tribute to Past International President Walter Sellers. It included a video of him speaking at a couple International Conventions. He is and will continue to be missed by all Ohio District Kiwanians and friends.

Prior to the banquet, I was subjected to the humility of being struck in the face with a pie. It actually tasted pretty good. Circle K raised $500.00 for the priveledge of allowing Circle K Governor Jason Stewart to shove a pie in my face. Boy, what I will do for our Sponsored Youth!

 I would recommend that you get involved with one or more Sponsored Leadership Programs. That could be K-Kids, Builder's Club, Key Club, Circle K , Aktion Clubs or Key Leader.  You will be more than rewarded for your participation.

Your District Board met on Friday, August 15th and took some important actions.

One item was the approval of the District Newsletter to be distributed exclusively by electronic means. It will be available on this website.

A second item was the dissolution  of Division 16E. Division 16W will become Division 16 and two clubs, All City and Kenmore will  become part of that Division. The other five clubs, Akron, Green, North Akron, Southeast Summit and Portage Lakes will become part of Division 20. This action will be effective October 1, 2008.

 A third and very important action was to encourage all Ohio Kiwanians to donate at least $1.00 to the campaign to Elect Alan Penn as Vice President of Kiwanis International. Alan will be a candidate at the International Convention next July in Nashville.  You will be asked to donate the money to your club which will in turn send a check to your Division Treasurer.

I strongly urge all to participate in this campaign which will give Ohio Kiwanians a greater voice in the future of Kiwanis.We need Alan Penn to represent us. He is forward thinking, dedicated to the betterment of Kiwanis and tireless in the promotion of our great Ohio District Kiwanis.

As you know by now, the dues increase was not presented to the Delegate Session at DCON. It was felt more study and reduction in expenses was necessary before bring a proposal before the delegates.

The issue will be revisited during the next administrative year.

SUBJECT: Proposal to increase annual membership dues

Your district Dues Study Committee has recommended that a proposed dues increase be placed before the delegate assembly at the District Convention in August. This issue was not taken lightly and is being presented to bring the district into a fiscally sound position.

Here are some facts:

• The last Districtdues increase occurred in 1997, eleven years ago, which brought district dues to the current $18 per year.
• Although we continue to receive less income due to membership losses, we are required to do the same things we did in 1997.
• Our costs have not gone down and with inflation etc. they actually went up.
• We have lost approximately 30% of our membership since the last dues increase in 1997.
• Federal mileage rate is $0.505 per mile and we reimburse our leadership $0.24 per mile.
• The $18 collected in 1997 has declined to $12.60 based on membership decline of 30%.
• Based on inflation, the $18 collected in 1997 would require $23.17 to match today's prices.
• It would take an increase of $10.57 just to stay even in 2008 and even more in 2009.
• We need to invest in the future of our Kiwanis District! We are at a crossroads with the district budget for next year. We will soon have no reserve funds left from which to borrow. If we continue at present funding and spending we will in four years, be over $250,000 in the red. We cannot continue to slash our district budget at a time when we need resources to build our district. We have leaders working hard for our members. However, we have lost too many members over the past years to continue to pay the same dues as we did 11 years ago.

I want to give you an update on the progress (lack thereof) in membership growth for the district. Ohio has the distinction of being third in all of Kiwanis International in membership growth. Actually, I should have said third in total membership loss thus far this year. That is a distinction I am not happy to hold. We have only two divisions with a positive growth for the year. Those are Division 10W at +2 and Division 24 at +9.

I challenge each and every member to help turn this decline around. If one half of the members in each club would invite someone to attend a club meeting and then invite them to become members, new member growth would be phenominal. Even if only one half of those who were invited to join did so, we would have over 2,000 new members. Just imagine the service we could then do in our communities with that many new members to help.

I am open to suggestions on how we can turn this around. I firmly believe that it is possible to reverse the trend and end the year on a positive note. Bill Pierce and his TAG Team has been working hard and we need to support their efforts. You can email your ideas and suggestions to me at leroy@leroymartin.com.


A very important side effect of this decline in membership is that of revenue loss. We made our budget for the year based on an anticipated membership figure. With the loss thus far, our revenues will drop by nearly $9,400. This erodes our reserve funds which are already reduced to a critical point. This loss in revenue means an eventual loss in service to membership.

On Saturday morning, I dropped in to observe a fantastic service project. The Copley-Fairlawn Kiwanis Club members were holding their annual food distribution. The project collected 19,000 cans of food. 8,000 of those cans were given toa local organization called Good Neighbors for further distribution to needy families. The other 11,000 cans were boxed up and given to 97 local families. The club purchased hams and $50.00 gift certificates to a local supermarket that were included in the baskets. Thanks to all who helped this day, families in need will have a brighter Christmas season. As you can see from these photos, even Rudolph joined in and gave a helping hand to the project.

I have designated January and February, 2008 as Membership Growth Months. I have asked all Lt. Governors to challenge each club to induct at least one new member during those months. If we do this we will see an increase in membership like we haven't seen in such a short time in many years. For those of you who doubt it can be done, check my blog for December 18th. JaniceMarx proves it can be done!!!

In addition to the new member challenge, I have asked for the name of one new locality in each division where we can begin the process of chartering a new club. This will be a great undertaking which will require that those who desire to see our Great Ohio District survive the membership crisis to step up and be counted.

Are you the one? Are you the one who will step up and make a difference in your club? Are you the one who will step up and make a difference in your Division? Are you the one who will step up and make a difference in our District?

I ask you to Be The One! Be the one who asks someone to attend one of your club's meetings. Then, be the one who asks that person to become a member of your club and the greatest organization that provides service to children and all those in need in your community -- Kiwanis.

I have completed one half of my official visits. Marge and I continue to be amazed at the service that all clubs are doing for the betterment of their communities. We see clubs doing food distribution, playground construction, reading to elementary students, and providing so many more opportunities for their members to impact their communities that it would take me much more space than is availableto tell the whole story. I thank each and every one of you for all you do for those in need.

Our visit to Division 20 brought a big surprise for First Lady Marge. The clubs asked their members to bring a stuffed animal for presentation to Marge. These animals were presented to be used as part of the First Lady's Project, Pediatric Trauma, Prevention and Treatment. Over 140 stuffed animals were given for the project. Marge in turn presented those stuffed animals to the Copley Townsip Fire Department.

They will be used when a child is in distress and needs to be comforted. The Copley Township Fire Department kept a number of them and has distributed the remainder to other local fire departments. What a great way to impact our community. We thank Division 20 for their generosity.

I paid a second visit to Division 22. I had told Newbury President, Janice Marx that if she got 10 new members, I would come back to induct them. She took me at my word and sponsored 10 new members. This has increased their club membership from 17 to 27. Congratulations Janice for being the one who stepped up and made a difference.