Niagara-Wheatfield Kiwanis: Serve, clean, give

Submitted by Danny Maerten

Niagara-Wheatfield Kiwanis Club

After a somewhat winter hiatus, the Kiwanis Club of Niagara-Wheatfield is back serving our community.

On Mother’s Day, a few members of the club were preparing a welcome breakfast of waffles, fruit salad, quiche, cheesy potatoes and ham at the Ronald McDonald House.

Ronald McDonald House: From left, Danny Maerten, Debra Bentley, Mason Smith, Susan Smith and, in front, Colin Smith.

••••••••

A week later, on a pleasant May 23 evening, members of the club grabbed large orange bags and proceeded to pick up debris along our adopted highway, Ward Road, from Niagara Road to Saunders Settlement. This event is also known as “Getting into Shape for the Summer.” Besides the basic fast-food cups and bags, there were numerous empty single-serve plastic bottles of alcoholic beverages, discarded beverage cans, a license plate, a wiffle ball, and car accident parts, amongst other findings.

Lewiston-Porter scholarship: Mike Gale, Joanna Baxter and Susan Smith; Niagara-Wheatfield scholarship: Christopher Desidero and Carly Faller; and Danny Maerten.

••••••••

Scholarships

The 2024 recipients of the Niagara-Wheatfield $1,000 scholarships are Carly Faller and Christopher Desidero. They were presented an oversized check at the Niagara-Wheatfield Senior Awards night, on May 30, by the Niagara-Wheatfield club’s secretary, Debra Bentley, and treasurer, Danny Maerten. The scholarship awards will be sent directly to their respective colleges for tuition and school expenses.

The annual scholarship is open to any graduating senior residing in the towns of Wheatfield, Niagara or attending Niagara Wheatfield.

On the following evening, May 31, Joanna Baxter was presented the Tom Beachy Scholarship at Lewiston-Porter Senior High School awards night by Niagara-Wheatfield Kiwanis Secretary Susan Smith and Niagara-Wheatfield Kiwanis Foundation President Micheal Gale. The Tom Beachy Scholarship is a $2,000 scholarship open to all graduating seniors residing in Niagara County.

Numerous well-deserved applications were received for both scholarships, and formulating the winners was not a simple task.

Next up

The Kiwanis Club of Niagara-Wheatfield will be volunteering, in July, at the Salvation Army’s Monday cookout; continuing the “Take a Book Share a Book Give a Book” program at The Wheatfield Family Picnic in August; and establishing a little free library.

The club is looking for any children/young adult books to supply these worthwhile endeavors. Please contact me at 716-228-3162 if you have some books to donate to this program.