Students Recognized For Unflagging Community Service

WALDORF - 5/14/2008

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A student club’s volunteer spirit and hundreds of hours of community service were celebrated last month at a special awards dinner in Waldorf. Members of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) Circle K Club were honored at a Service Leadership Program Appreciation Night for their community work in Southern Maryland on behalf of the Kiwanis Club. The SMCM Circle K Club is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of St. Mary’s County. Kiwanis Lt. Gov. John Buchanan made the evening’s introductions, and SMCM Circle K Club President Kelli Hill (’10, of Hagerstown, Md.) gave the year’s report on the club’s projects, fundraisers and success stories.  The awards dinner, held at the Greater Waldorf Jaycee Center, was sponsored by the Greater Waldorf Jaycee Foundation. St. Mary’s College of Maryland Circle K Club member Sara Rubinstein (’08, of Gaithersburg, Md.) was awarded membership in the Carthage-Pullman Society that evening. The society recognizes the generosity of those who give their time and resources to making the world a better place. Rubinstein has been an active member of the Kiwanis for the last eight years, performing hours of community service and serving as president and treasurer of the SMCM Circle K Club. She was also an active member and treasurer of her high school Key Club. Other Circle K members attending the dinner included Daniel Ruthenberg-Marshall (’11, of Potomac, Md.), Shin Hee Park (’10, of College Park, Md.), Daniel Morris (’10, of Baltimore), Kristen Brunot (’10, of Columbia, Md.), Megan Tawes (’11, of Crisfield, Md.) and Chris Rodkey (’10, of Ellicott City, Md.). Club faculty advisor and SMCM economics professor Don Stabile also attended. The SMCM Circle K Club had a busy spring semester. Among their projects were a coin drive to raise money for breast cancer research, a canned food drive for a local church, and participation in a Christmas in April home renovation project. Club members also attended a district convention in Fairfax, Va., to train and network with Circle K members from the Capital District. Last fall, the club raised money at the St. Mary’s County Oyster Festival for community youth programs, helped clean up Greenwell State Park, and worked the children’s games tent during the annual Kiwanis Spirits of Point Lookout evening. The Kiwanis motto, “serving the children of the world,” was evidenced in action at the awards dinner, as students from the Kiwanis K-Kids Club at Lexington Park Elementary School Boys and Girls Club and the Builders Club of Spring Ridge Middle School Boys and Girls Club joined in the evening’s festivities. The K-Kids Club is co-sponsored by the Circle K Club and Kiwanis Club of St. Mary’s County. Circle K members attend weekly K-Kids meetings and serve as mentors and advisors, helping with projects and educational activities. Accompanying the elementary school children were SMCM Circle K Club’s Kristen Brunot, Circle K advisor to K-Kids Club for 2007-2008, and K-Kids Club Treasurer Jewel Burnett-Parker (5th grade) and Secretary James Brown (also 5th grade), who gave the year’s report of K-Kid Club activities. Celebrating its 10th year in 2009, the SMCM Circle K Club is part of Circle K International, which is the largest collegiate community service organization in the world. According to Kiwanis International, there are currently 13, 250 college students on 450 campuses in 17 nations participating in that organization. The mission of Circle K International is to develop college and university students into a global network of responsible citizens and leaders with a life-long commitment to service.

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