Rough Risers Help Schools - Featured in Nebraske-Iowa Monthly

 

Article featured in the Kiwanis Nebraska-Iowa monthly newsletter!

Cedar Falls Rough Risers Help Local Schools with Kettle Corn

It is popping season here in Cedar Falls and the Kiwanis Rough Risers are busy at work! The Cedar Falls Rough Risers have already popped over 400 bags of kettle corn for three local elementary and middle schools. The schools will sell the delicious bags of kettle corn at their local spring fundraising events. Each school gets 100 bags to sell. Sold at $7 a bag that is $700 of profit for each school!

Stay tuned for more popping as the club continues to help 5 more schools this spring! That will be almost 1,000 bags of kettle corn!

What did the Kiwanis Rough Risers Do During the 2020 Pandemic?

What does a service club do in a pandemic time when their primary source of funding comes from selling delicious kettle corn at public events? 

The Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers club actively supports youth and community programs in the Cedar Valley through donations and service.  Local commercial sponsors have also provided a significant portion of the funds we donate to our community.  But this year's events have required rethinking our strategies for supporting our community. 

Donating Support: This year has been an eventful year. As people’s needs changed, we decided that it was necessary to revamp our budget to give more money to areas of need. We dedicated our club donations to:

• 
  Food Bank of Northeast Iowa
• Salvation Army
• Several childcare centers

Our club donated to the Cedar Falls Community Schools to purchase books and materials to help teachers meet the extra social and emotional needs of students under stress from Covid-19. 

We opened our own wallets and gave $1,400 in HyVee food cards to the tireless workers in the People’s Clinic for the amazing work they have done fighting Covid-19. 

Working with the Salvation Army, we raised and donated $1,400, plus needed household goods, to support a family that had lost everything.

Service Support: We built an outdoor shelter for the YMCA to provide activity space for kids with healthy fresh air.  This 20' x 20' shelter will be used to protect the many boys and girls who attend the YMCA during the summer.

We repaired a shelter for the Cedar Falls Recreation Department. Repairing this Pfeiffer Park structure is part of our Rough Risers' ongoing program to better the Cedar Valley

Though we were unable to pop much Kettle Corn, we still worked to help our community. When it is safe again, we hope to resume popping. In the meantime, we have a greater appreciation of the help we get from our sponsors, which enables us to Serve the Children of the Cedar Valley!

Thank You!

Here's How Kiwanians Can and Do Help Hurricane Relief

Kiwanians Help!

Here is information about how you can donate to the Hurricane Relief cause:

Rough Risers Donate $21,332 to Better the World.

The purpose of the Cedar Falls Rough Risers Kiwanis club is service to our community, local and worldwide, especially to provide service to children. As part of our service, we pop kettle corn and join with sponsors to raise and donate money to various community organizations. 

In 2015, we supported 36 organizations and schools in the Cedar Valley and the world:

Direct Benefit to Children ($10,890 + $2,700):

• Aspire,
• Back to School,
• Big Brothers/Sisters,
• Boy Scouts,
• Boys/Girls Club,
• Cedar Valley Preschool,
• Girl Scouts,
• Grin and Grow Day Care,
• Quaker Dale,
• Cedar Falls H.S. Scholarship,
• Hawkeye C.C. Scholarship,
• Special Olympics,
• UNI Wheelchair Sports,
• Waterloo Gift of Giving,
• Hawkeye C.C. Literacy Program,
• Harbaugh-Williams Education Promise Fund,
• Kiwanis International Children’s Fund.
• Six elementary and 2 junior high schools in the Cedar Falls School District. We pop kettle corn and donate it to the schools to sell at their carnivals. ($2,700)

Programs Benefitting Both Children and Adults  ($7,742):

• Kiwanis International Eliminate Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus,
• Family Children’s Council,
• Habitat for Humanity,
• Hartman Reserve Building project,
• Hartman Reserve,
• Kiwanis International Foundation,
• Kiwanis International Skip-a-Meal,
• NE IA Food Bank,
• NE IA Kiwanis Foundation,
• Recreation Center Sports,
• Salvation Army.

Rough Risers Support the Cedar Valley Community in 2014

Our club IS the Busiest Service Club in the Cedar Valley.  We work hard to earn money through popping kettle corn, selling gum balls and receiving donations from community sponsors.  Throughout this process, we try to support as many organizations as possible. 

Here is a list of the organizations we supported in 2014:

• Big Brothers/Sisters
• Blue Zones Project in Iowa
• Boy Scouts
• Cedar Falls High School Scholarship
• Cedar Falls Recreation
• Cedar Valley Preschool
• Circle K (Kiwanis at UNI)
• Family Children Council
• Gift of Giving
• Girl Scouts
• Grin N Grow Daycare
• Habitat for Humanity
• Hawkeye Community College Scholarship
• Kiwanis Eliminate program
• Kiwanis International "Skip a Meal" program
• North East Iowa Food Bank
• North East Iowa Kiwanis Foundation
• Quakerdale
• Salvation Army
• Special Olympics
• UNI Wheelchair Sports Camp

We are doing what we can to improve the world, one child and one community at a time. 

Join us so that you can help us make a difference in the world.

Rough Risers Join CF Lyons Club to Build Shelter for North Cedar Neighborhood Association

Rough Risers pledge $7,500 to Hartman Reserve Building Replacement

Last week, Club President, Gery Deaver, presented Hartman Reserve with a 3-year pledge for a total of $7,500.  This money will be joined with other funding resources to replace Hartman's original building at the Nature Center.  The Rough Risers have been long-time strong supporters of Hartman Reserve.  Beyond donating money, we have built storage shelters, refurbished buildings, staffed pancake breakfasts, planted trees and helped with a variety of activities.

This photo shows President Deaver presenting the pledge to the President of Friends of Hartman Reserve Board, Steve Harding.  BTW, Steve Harding is also a past president of our Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers club.

We look forward to working with the Hartman Reserve to service the Cedar Valley community.

Rough Risers Donate $7500 to Hartman Reserve

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Rough Risers Fight Tetanus through Donations

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The Kiwanis Rough Risers contributed $1,100 to join fellow Kiwanians in their fight against maternal and neonatal tetanus through the Project Eliminate program.

Rough Risers Donate $1,100 to Fight Tetanus

30 Cedar Valley Organizations Benefit from Kiwanis Hard Work

During the 2010-2011 year, the Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers assisted 30 organizations through monetary donations. These organizations were primarily education and/or youth-oriented. 

They included:

• Boys and Girls Club
• Dollars for Scholars
• Junior Achievement
• Hartman Reserve
• Kiwanis International Fund
• NE Iowa Food Bank
• Circle-K UNI
• CFHS Scholarship
• NUHS Scholarship
• HCC Scholarship
• CV Soccer Association
• Harbaugh-Williams Fund
• Quakerdale Organization
• Quakerdale Mobile Camp
• Kiwanis International Skip-a-Meal
• NE-IA Kiwanis Foundation
• Habitat for Humanity
• Hartman Summer Camp
• Family and Children's Council
• Children's Miracle Network
• UNI Wheelchair Sports
• DEsigner Genes
• Young Leaders in Action
• Grin & Grow Preschool
• Boy Scouts
• Girl Scouts
• Special Olympics
• Cedar Valley Preschool
• Self Help International Nutrition
• Sanctuary Trust (Mama Lumka)

Our Small Group Makes a BIG Difference.

How DO we do it?

2010 - 2011 was a GOLDEN YEAR for the Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers. Believe it or not, our small club of 34 men and women raised $36,900.

Yes, you read that right. We raised almost $37,000.

How did we do it?  Most of it was through selling our Koveted Kiwanis Kettlecorn.  We popped corn for 17 events throughout the spring, summer and fall months of 2011.  For 23 days we stood beneath our blue tent and sang the praises of  our famous Kettlecorn. We sold $13,152 of corn and donated $8,367 of kettlecorn to Cedar Falls elementary schools to sell on their own.

A strong reason for our success was the terrific support from local businesses. Twenty local businesses donated $500, $1,000, or even $4,410 to our cause so that we could donate this money back into 30 organizations in the Cedar Valley.

Thank you all.  Together we are making a difference.

Rough Risers Donate to UNICEF to Fight Tetanus

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Rough Risers fight maternal and neonatal tetanus through donations.

Kiwanis Rough Risers Ship Supplies to Soldiers in Afganistan

Our troops in Afghanistan need supplies to make their stay a little nicer and the Rough Risers are here to help them.

The Kiwanis Rough Risers have collected over $250 to send a collection of supplies to 1st LT Matthew Slykhuis. Matthew is the son of club member, Jerry Slykhuis. He has been stationed in Afghanistan since the middle of July. Matthew is serving as a medivac helicopter pilot in the army. Matthew is a graduate of the ROTC program at ISU and a graduate of flight school at Fort Rucker Alabama.

The collection of goodies sent included toothpaste, soap, toothbrushes, foot powder, gum, and several different kinds of food. We purchased these supplies at our local Fareway Food Store who gave us a healthy discount so that we could get more supplies for the money we collected.

Thanks to the members of our Rough Risers and Fareway Food Store we were able to send over $300 worth things to Matthew so he can share them with the other soldiers in Afghanistan.

Kiwanis Rough Risers Make BIG Donations in 2009-2010

Now that we have come to the end of our 2009-2010 year, we have a chance to review the changes we have brought to the community.  This will be done in a couple of postings.  This posting describes how we have contributed almost $15,000 to programs in the Cedar Valley.

0-6 Years Old

• Family and Children's Council
• Children's Miracle Network
• Grin & Grow Day Care

7-12 Years Old

• Hartman Reserve Nature Center
• NE IA Foodbank
• Harbaugh-Williams Promise Foundation
• Kids Lure Prevention - Price Lab School
• Quakerdale Camp
• Boys & Girls Club
• Cedar Falls Elementary School PTA Kettlecorn Events

13-18 Years Old

• Character Counts
• Young Leaders in Action
• Junior Achievement

College

• Circle K
• Dollars for Scholars
• Cedar Falls High School Foundation (Scholarship)
• Hawkeye Community College Foundation (Scholarship)

Rough Risers Support Grin n Grow Through RAGBRAI

Grin n Grow Child Care in Waterloo, Iowa, is a day care center that has been serving children for decades. Each year, Team Flamingo (teamflamingo.org) rides RAGBRAI with two intentions in mind. The first intention is to complete the 450+ mile ride safe and sound. The second intention is to raise money for scholarships for children (2 - 6 yrs old) at Grin n Grow.

Typically, Leigh Zeitz asks for support from the Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers members individually. They give generously and many children benefit. Today, it was announced that the Board of Directors for the club have decided to support Leigh (Z-Bird) $1 for every mile cycled "butt in the seat" on the route.  The route is 442 miles so this could be a hefty donation to Grin n Grow.

Thank you, Rough Risers!!

If you want to learn more about Team Flamingo or follow our blog to see what is happening, here are some sites you will want to view:

Team Flamingo website - Basic team information, list of the 22 team members taking part, and links to RAGBRAI information.

Team Flamingo Blog - This blog will be updated daily as the ride progresses. It should give you some photos and narrative of what is happening on the ride.

Here's hoping for good weather and wind at our backs . . .

UPDATE:  It should be noted that Leigh Zeitz rode his bike for 400 miles on RAGBRAI so the Rough Risers donated $400 to Grin n Grow.  Thank you.

C.F. Rough Risers Raise $26,000 and Work 1,500 Hours to Support Cedar Valley Community

The Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers service club contributed more than $26,000 in support of more than 25 youth organizations, scholarship programs, other educational programs and programs for handicapped youth in 2009.

In addition, the 38 members of the club provide more than 1,500 hours of labor on projects related to community youth programs. The Rough Risers built two shelters and a storage building for Cedar Valley Soccer complex, an observation deck at the Hartman Reserve Nature Center, and renovated a raised flower bed at the Cedar Valley Arboretum.

Funding Sources: A major portion of the funds for these projects were generated through the Rough Risers' kettle corn sales at major Cedar Falls and Waterloo Celebrations. Additional funds were received from sponsors of the club's activities, including Community Motors, Dan Deery Motors, Iowa direct Equipment, Kohl's, Liberty Bank, Loy and Loy Accounting, Martin Brothers, PFG Best, UNI Gallagher-Bluedorn, Upper Iowa University, VGM, Wal-Mart, and the Windsor Nursing and Rehab Center. Funds were also raised through grants and direct donations from club members.
(Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier 1/12/2010)

Rough Risers Raise 1000s Selling Kettle Corn

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Over 3 years, Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers has contributed more than $30,000 to the CV Community using funds raised by selling kettlecorn.  Read the article for specifics.

Rough Risers Donate Cedar Falls Library's First Computer

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Always on the cutting edge, the Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers donated an Apple IIe to the Cedar Falls Public Library. This was the library's first computer and it was available for public use.