username
password

Forgot Password?

Want to start a Kids Care Club? Register now to start helping others! Not sure if you're ready to register? Sign up to take a Sneak Peek at this month's project, and learn about the benefits of membership.

 

Ionia Kids Care Club

"I love the MLK quote - Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve! - I believe that quote with my whole heart and can often be found finding ways for other people to serve. I think that children need encouragement to volunteer and can succeed as volunteers if they are placed in the right volunteer position. I love finding the perfect match."

Penny Beeman
Facilitator. Ionia Kids Care Club
Ionia, Michigan


Penny Beeman, the current facilitator, started with the Ionia Kids Care Club as a volunteer when her children became members.  When she became the facilitator of the Club, it grew from six middle schoolers to sixteen members from the third grade to middle school. The success of the Ionia Kids Care Club experience can be measured by former members, who are now in high school, and come to assist the Club with projects and events. 

The Ionia Kids Care Club was started by Dave Cook, a former Ionia theatre manager and Amy Buckingham, a former AmeriCorps program director in 2005 in an effort to provide local youth with a safe place to meet after school. The members decided that they wanted to spend time volunteering in their community. They began by volunteering at local events where extra hands were needed to set things up, work at stations, and clean up at the end of the event.

At weekly meetings, the Ionia club members learned the importance of dressing appropriately to fit the event, proper behavior, and other skills needed to be effective volunteers. Soon, they started planning their own projects and events. Each year, Ionia Kids Care Club members plan 3 large service projects, 2-5 smaller service projects and continue to assist with special events. Last summer, members volunteered at over 22 community events, often offering free face painting (their specialty) to children and also offering their help to event coordinators.

Here are some of the projects and events the Ionia Kids Care Club has been involved in:

  • Make a Difference Day - Volunteered at the Bertha Brock Haunted Hayride - a free community event.
  • Family Volunteer Day - Assembled Christmas ornaments used to decorate club trees for a local "Festival of Trees". Money raised from that event goes to a local youth charity. Ornaments are donated to local nursing homes where the Ionia Kids Care Club members sing Christmas carols and exchange Season's Greetings.
  • Kids Care Holiday Hope Chests - Organized donations, assembled and delivered over 150 Holiday Hope Chests 4 days before Christmas and gave them to youth living in local low-income housing.
  • Valentine's Survival Kits - Distributed 40 goodie bags, that included poems and candy, to residents and staff at a local domestic abuse shelter for women and children. Also, included was a craft box with art supplies that could be used to make homemade Valentines cards.
  • MLK Day - Created a transportable "Wall of Dreams" and created buttons for everyone who volunteered at the MLK Day events.
  • Global Youth Service Day - Volunteered at a "Sweep the Streets" project.
  • Community Garden Planting Day - Planted vegetables at a new community garden, to be part of Ionia County Community Food Network (ICCFN) which is a network of community gardens, food pantries, and other volunteer organizations working together to provide fresh produce to families in need.

The clubs two favorite projects were the Bertha Brock Haunted Hayride and Kids Care Holiday Hope Chests, a national Kids Care Clubs project.   A 4th grade Kids Care Club member said of the Hayride event, "It is always fun trying to scare people at this event!"

Penny says, "With the economy going down and many local people being without jobs, our club members know , firsthand, just how hard holidays can be."

Fortunately, this year, the club was able to partner with HandsOn Battle Creek, the First Christian Church of Ionia, State Farm, Boy Scout Troop 85 and Cub Scout Pack 3083 and 3086, as well as with volunteers from ENRICH of Ionia County to purchase, shop, assemble and deliver the Holiday Hope Chests.

Penny sees the club continuing to grow in the future and the projects getting better each year. Ionia KCC also hopes to offer support to other clubs who might be starting out.

Spreading the spirit of volunteering by sharing community service experiences is one of their goals. For example, for three summers, Ionia Kids offered free face painting at community events. This year they plan to offer classes to teach other groups how to face paint. 

Their new community gardening endeavor was really special for them, since most club members live in town and don't have access to gardens. The garden that the Club planted was HUGE! The farmer who owns the Krazy Acres Pumpkin Patch, where their community garden is located, helped teach the Ionia Kids Care Club members what to do and how to do it right. They had so much fun that now the club wants to contact other local community gardens to see if they can offer additional help with their planting.

This year, seven Ionia Kids Care Club members qualified for individual President's Volunteer Service Awards and all club members have received PVSA Gold Level pins. PVSA Gold Level pins are awarded for 100 plus hours of community service during a twelve month time frame. Penny Beeman, the club facilitator has gone on to become an AmeriCorps volunteer leader in her community.

Penny says, "It is the Ionia youth, involved in the Ionia Kids Care Club, that make our group so special. Their desire to help the community they live in and help those less fortunate, makes this club a success. They are always willing to give up their free time to help. Without their dedication, hard work, and generosity, our club would not be able to accomplish the great things it does."

We commend Penny and the Ionia Kids Care Clubs for their extensive community outreach which has earned them Gold Level President Volunteer Service Awards. 

 

Kids Care Clubs is pleased to be joined by Quaker in providing special recognition for the Club of the Month. Members of the Ionia Kids Care Club will receive a special gift directly from Quaker to share with their families and friends.