Kiwanis International President for 2014-15, Dr John Button, recently embarked on a worldwide Centennial Tour. Singapore was included amongst the countries to be visited. With much excitement, we received Dr John Button and his wife Deborah Button on 24^th March 2015. The 12-stop, worldwide celebration of the Kiwanis movement highlights the work undertaken by local Kiwanis Club members to serve the children of the world. The first Kiwanis Club started life in January 2015 as a businessman’s networking club in Detroit, Michigan. The organization quickly adopted community service as a goal, with children as the beneficiary. This first Kiwanis Club had since evolved into a global service organization in more than 80 countries, with nearly 630,000 adult and youth members making up 16,000 clubs.

Dr. Button and his wife started their day with a working lunch with members of the Kiwanis Club of Singapore (Delta Chapter). What followed was a memorable afternoon visit to Ang Mo Kio Primary School where the first K-Kids Club in Singapore was formed.

 

Over 80 members of the K-Kids Club gave a warm reception to Dr and Debbie Button. The Leaders of the Club took the opportunity to share their future service projects with visiting delegation. Although the visit was short, our Kiwanis International President had inspired the children from the K-KIds Club to make an impact in their community.

 

After the Ang Mo Kio Primary School visit, the late afternoon stop at the North Vista Secondary School Key Club was equally rewarding for students, teachers and the Principal. Dr Button was impressed by the enthusiasm of the students as he fielded wide-ranging questions from Key Club members.

 

He explained the Eliminate Project, sharing with the youth the objectives and benefits for millions of people in countries with very limited resources. He inspired them to start a fund raising project in the school. Later, Dr and Debbie Button toured the beautiful campus, guided by the Key Club President, after which they were presented with a special gift hand-crafted by students. During tea break, everyone enjoyed special pastries prepared by parents of Key Club members.

In the evening, a few members who had not been able to meet our KI President for lunch hosted a dinner at the Singapore Cricket Club. We had a local food galore, sharing and eating the dishes community-style. We let our hair down, had great conversations, and ended the night with a brief lesson on Singapore history.
We are very fortunate to have the Kiwanis International President visit us in Singapore for the 100th anniversary of the Kiwanis movement. Thank you John and Debbie.