By Holly Heller Enquirer Editor
    BREMEN — The 51 members of the Bremen Kiwanis Club each have their own reasons for giving their time and energy to the organization.
    But they all have one reason in common.
    “Helping the kids out,” said Chris Snyder, who currently serves as vice president.
    Member Sheila Kelty elaborated.
 

 “A lot of what we do benefits people in the community, especially children. We focus on Riley Hospital and we focus on the local school. It helps develop those kids into community leaders.”
    Current president Denny Yoder has put in a total of 29 years serving the Kiwanis Club. A past governor of the Indiana District, he has served as state chairman of KIDS (Kiwanis In Direct Support) for Riley since 1994. As state chairman, he coordinates direct support for Riley Hospital through Kiwanis clubs around the state.
    “I call other clubs to find transportation back and forth to the hospital,” Yoder said. “The Kiwanis clubs really reach out.”
    Through his experience with Riley, he has seen firsthand how Kiwanis helps children.
    “I saw a 1-and-1/4-pound baby that was very, very small. And that baby survived. Things like that really tugged at my heart.”
    He has many stories involving Kiwanis Club members developing close-knit relationships with the patients and their parents throughout the course of their treatment. In one case he will never forget, the Richmond club members became pall bearers at a funeral for a child they had transported regularly.
    “It’s really ‘reach-out-and-touch.’ That is entirely different than just sending a check. Raising money is not my big thing,” he said.
    Locally, the Kiwanis Club does raise money that helps support many youth-oriented projects. Last year alone, the club raised funds for scholarships for Bremen High School seniors, the DECA group, a Lego robotics team, the Summer Reading Program at the Bremen Public Library, the Kiwanis Halloween Party and the BHS Key Club. They provided a free pancake breakfast for the residents of The Whitlock in November.
    Their generosity reaches beyond Bremen and Riley Hospital, however.
    Last year, the group sent 1,000 personal care bags as part of a humanitarian aid mission to El Salvador. Kelty and her son, Sean, were able to travel to El Salvador to deliver the bags.
    “We worked with club members there to distribute the bags. We gave flouride treatments.”
    The group also held an in-house auction to raise money that went into two small business loans for El Salvador women.
    “Once those are paid back, the money will be loaned to someone else,” Kelty said.
    The club is now embarking on a new El Salvador mission, to provide trauma dolls for kids in hospitals there.
    In order to provide financial support to projects like these, the group holds a variety of fundraisers each year such as a golf outing, Travelogue series and SuperBowl pizza sales.
    Coming Saturday, Sept. 15 is the Kiwanis Club’s annual all-you-can-eat pancake and sausage breakfast, to be held from 6 to 11 a.m. at St. Isidore Hall.
    “Lots of good fun and fellowship,” Kelty said.
    More than 400 people attended last year’s breakfast.
    “It’s more of a fun-type event. You can joke around and visit with people,” Snyder said.
    The next Kiwanis event will be the Halloween Party, set for Tuesday, Oct. 30 in the school cafeterias. The party includes a costume contest for ages 12 and younger.
    Anyone interested in learning more about Kiwanis is invited to attend a meeting as a guest. The club meets at 6:30 a.m. every Tuesday at the Community Hospital of Bremen cafe.