kiwanis club: Los Gatos, saratoga,monte sereno
how we started
The Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos was formed on December 20, 1923. (Making it the oldest international service club in Los Gatos). We represent Los Gatos, Saratoga and Monte Sereno.
The very first Kiwanis Club was formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1915. Clubs were originally organized to promote the exchange of business among members. Shortly after its organization it became a service club helping children around the world. Click here for more details on the origins of Kiwanis.
Today there are nearly 600,000 Kiwanis Club members, including: Key Club (high school) Circle K Club (college), Builders Club (middle school), K’Kids (elementary school) and Aktion Club (for those with disabilities).
The word "Kiwanis" was derived from a Native American phrase meaning "We trade our talents"...and that we do!
About the organization: Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos is part of Division 12; we are one of 13 clubs in the South Bay that make up our division. Our very own Rosalie Patterson is the Lieutenant Governor over the entire division this year. Last year, that position was ALSO filled by one of our club members, Terry Martin. We are honored to have numerous past "LTG's" in our club, including Don Wolf and Rex Upp. We are in the Cal-Nev-Ha district, meaning that all of California, Nevada and Hawaii fall into the same group and we have district conferences that are sometimes in Hawaii, YAY!! When your travels take you around the globe, know that you can always find a friend in a fellow Kiwanian...no matter where you roam! For more info about the organization, click here.
Our local club is made up of the following officers and board members:
Susan Monahan, President 2021-2022
Nancy Pearson, Past President 2019-2021
Ernest Patterson, Treasurer
Nancy Pearson, Secretary
Board of Directors:
Stephen Guruwaiya
Barbara Koplos
Terry Martin
Joe Pirzynski
Kasey Rice
Rusty Rinehart
Bob Ross
Don Wolf
what we do
KIWANIS CLUB OF LOS GATOS: VOLUNTEERISM WITH A FRESH APPROACH
Community Service Organizations (Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary, to name a few) have all been around for many decades and all serve the community in slightly different ways. These groups are designed for people who want to get involved - do good things - and give, not just give back, to the communities that they care about. It is volunteerism at its finest and is a vehicle for many people who are looking to do something meaningful in their lives.
Kiwanis helps kids around the world. Local clubs look out for our communities and the international organization takes on large-scale challenges, such as fighting disease and poverty. Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos has some great plans and ideas for our communities of Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga. We put on many events, such as the annual Hippity Hop Egg Hunt at Oak Meadow Park, and the Kiwanis Special Games at West Valley College for over 1000 special needs kids. We give school backpacks and supplies to elementary schools in surrounding communities who need our help. We also honor students and educators by awarding scholarships to kids who have overcome huge obstacles and turned their lives around to get good grades and go on to college. To expand on this, we are so supportive and proud of our educators that we have started a program (Teachers & Friends) that is specifically designed for teachers from our local schools. We realize that their time is precious and want to give them an outlet where they can socialize with each other and help each other with ideas and input on various needs, but also fitting into their busy schedules and allowing them an outlet for community service. This program caters to the teachers - that’s it in a nutshell.
We do trail-cleanups on the Los Gatos Creek Trail and open it up to other groups and businesses who may be interested and need their own ‘schedule’. This includes anywhere in Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga that has a need.
On a last, and fun, note, we have once a month ‘roving socials’ where we do anything from play bocce ball to wine-tasting and everything in between. This includes restaurants, wineries and everything fun in Los Gatos and Saratoga. Due to COVID, these fun times have been extremely limited, but we get creative with zoom events! Oh, and if you have ever been to our annual Art and Wine Festival (Fiesta de Artes), you would have seen - or maybe even drank - some wine that we featured from Los Gatos (Testarossa), Saratoga (Cooper Garrod) and San Jose (J Lohr). We support our towns and we support our local businesses…and we are in full force now, during the pandemic, and will be even stronger post-pandemic.
The Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos is made up of a lot of people who want to make a difference in our communities - and happen to have a lot of fun along the way, which makes it all the better.
If you want some more info, please email Nancy at kiwanislosgatos@gmail.com
community service
Here's a list of some of our more popular community service projects, sponsorships and events:
- Los Gatos & Saratoga High School:
- Academic Scholarships
- Turn-Around Scholarships, for students who have overcome adversities. The TAS program started over 50 years ago!
- Los Gatos High School Key Club
- Hippity Hop Egg Hunt with the Easter Bunny, Oak Meadow Park, Saturday before Easter. This year, due to COVID, we will feature the Easter Bunny, but without the egg hunt.
- Los Gatos Fiesta de Artes, Art & Wine Festival: Each September we put on this great community event, with live music and fun all weekend long, free to the public. www.losgatosfiesta.com
- Kiwanis Special Games, each May at West Valley College in Saratoga, for extremely challenged special needs kids in Santa Clara County www.kiwanisspecialgames.org
- Sponsor of Student Leadership Programs at the following schools: K Kids at Blue Hills Elementary, Daves Ave Elementary & Van Meter Elementary; Builders Club at Fisher Middle School; Key Club at LG High
- Los Gatos Veterans Memorial, sponsor
- Los Gatos Youth Park, sponsor
- R J Fisher Middle School Awards for Students
- Kiwanis International Foundation – The Eliminate Project, eliminating maternal & neonatal tetanus
- California-Nevada-Hawaii Kiwanis District Foundation – Prevent Pediatric Trauma
- Trail Cleanups each month, along the Los Gatos Creek Trail system
- Donation Drives for various communities, such as for the CZU Fire Victims in 2020
- We support numerous student groups, including: Reality Check newspaper at LG High School; various sports teams at the local schools and more
- We support numerous community non-profit organizations, including: Second Harvest Silicon Valley; Sunday Friends; The Family Giving Tree, Live Oak Senior Nutrition Center
fundraisers & AWARD CEREMONIES
We can't do much to support various causes without some money, so fundraising events are critical! Here are our main fundraisers:
LOS GATOS ART & WINE FESTIVAL, FIESTA DE ARTES
September 18-19, 2021, 10am-6pm, Civic Center Lawn
2021 is the 25th year for the Los Gatos Kiwanis Club putting on this super fun & free festival, with live music all weekend, great local wines and wonderful art. Entirely run by our club, every single cent made goes right back into the community. www.losgatosfiesta.com
TURN-AROUND SCHOLARSHIPS & COMMUNITY HERO AWARDS LUNCHEON
May 6, 2021, 12noon-!:30pm, Flights Restaurant Los Gatos. Come and hear the stories and future plans of our scholarship awardees from Los Gatos and Saratoga High Schools. An event not to be missed!
have fun
When you work hard, you want to play hard! We do everything from "Artsy Fridays" to Zoom Bingo Tournaments and more! We have roving socials, where we visit a different restaurant, winery or coffee shop in Los Gatos and Saratoga once a month. We want to have fun and spend locally. It's a win-win!
how to join
The Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos is a community service organization, serving Los Gatos, Saratoga & Monte Sereno. We are non-profit & completely made up of volunteers who simply want to do good in our community.
To put it simply: We hold fundraisers so that we can continue doing community service projects & providing scholarships for our youth, as well as sponsoring Student Leadership Programs at our local schools.
Think you might be a good fit? Email us at kiwanislosgatos@gmail.com and we will tell you how to come to our meetings and get a feel for our group.
in the news
Recent articles in the new Los Gatan Weekly Newspaper, SJ Mercury News, Los Gatos Patch, Los Gatos Living Magazine and Saratoga Spotlight Magazine:
https://losgatan.com/festival-pairs-opportunity-with-wine/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/31/los-gatos-sends-a-valentine-to-local-heroes/
Los Gatos Living Magazine article,April 2021: email kiwanislosgatos@gmail.com for pdf version.