The Early Risers are an active group of members that are involved in a variety of service projects for the community. They are always looking for areas that they can volunteer to make the community a better place, especially for our children.
Kiwanis Comfort Dolls: Members of the club cut, sew and stuff these dolls for the Worthington Police Department, Social Services and the hospital. These dolls are given to children if they are traumatized or in a stressful situation. The doll is placed in a bag with instructions and two washable markers for the child to draw on it.
The members teamed up with the Police Department to craft 37 comfort dolls out of old blue police uniforms equipped with a small WPD patch on the chest. Sergeant Brett Wiltrout said “When we go into homes, kids are scared. When there’s a lot of stress and issues going on in the house, we give them teddy bears, Care Bears or a Kiwanis doll to hopefully make the situation a little better.” Wiltrout came up with the idea after seeing the collaboration when Early Risers Kiwanis members created 18 “hospital dolls” and donated them to the WPD, Nobles County Community Services and Sanford Worthington Medical Center as pictured above.
QWIK Awards (Quality Work Inspires Kids): Elementary students work one-on-one with their teacher to set attainable goals. These goals can be personal and/or academic. This is a time consuming project for the teachers, but so rewarding for everyone. Each month those students are recognized with a beautiful certificate and pencil for their achievements from the club members.
Used Children’s Books: Members have donated thousands of used children’s books to the local food pantry from garage sales, thrift stores and library sales. These Kiwanis members want every child that comes to the pantry to take a book home with them to keep;
City Parks:Adopt and clean three city parks every week from early spring to late fall;
Used Books and Magazines:Members donate their good used books and magazines (address labels are cut out) to the local Prairie Justice Center’s Library for the inmates;
Community Prayer Breakfast:Every spring the club hosts the Community Prayer Breakfast. This is a time for the residents to come together for a motivational/inspirational speaker.
Other Service Projects: Tutoring at the Alternative Learning Center (ALC) for students and adults; help residents to pass their citizenship test to become U.S. citizens; volunteer with various endeavors at the Manna Food Pantry; deliver Meals on Wheels; LOVE, Inc. (Love in the Name of Christ); Salvation Army Bell ringing and many more.
Financial Support: Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA); Back packs for school; Dollars for Scholars; YMCA Sustaining Fund; Renaissance (Middle School Academic Recognition); Love INC (Love in the Name of Christ); Friends of the Library; Helping Hands Pregnancy Center; MOPS (Mothers of PreSchool); CEO59 (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities); Every Meal Program; DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education); and the Minnesota-Dakotas District Education Foundation; District Outreach; Kiwanis International Annual Club Gift and Children’s Fund.
Early Risers Fundraisers
Grocery Dash: raffle tickets are sold with the first place wins up to$1,200.00 of groceries in a two minute dash through a local grocery store. Second, third and fourth place winners have an opportunity to place three items back on the shelf where they belong. Each one is timed and the person with the shortest amount of time wins second place, etc.
Farmer’s Market: Kiwanis Cake Cups are sold on Tuesdays and Saturdays. They are small or medium cakes in multiple flavors in a cup.
Peanut Day: Members hand out small bags of peanuts for a donation. These monies support the club’s K-Kids and VOKK groups. Some of the students help at each of the four locations for a few hours.
Pumpkin Painting: It wouldn’t be fall if a pumpkin painting wasn’t offered to the youth. A member donates the pumpkins and the public is invited to purchase a pumpkin with all supplies furnished. This is a fun event for the children and even adults.
Sponsor Service Leadership Programs (SLP)
These club sponsored programs are listed under Service Leadership Programs (SLP).
What We Do
The Early Risers are an active group of members that are involved in a variety of service projects for the community. They are always looking for areas that they can volunteer to make the community a better place, especially for our children.
Kiwanis Comfort Dolls: Members of the club cut, sew and stuff these dolls for the Worthington Police Department, Social Services and the hospital. These dolls are given to children if they are traumatized or in a stressful situation. The doll is placed in a bag with instructions and two washable markers for the child to draw on it.
The members teamed up with the Police Department to craft 37 comfort dolls out of old blue police uniforms equipped with a small WPD patch on the chest. Sergeant Brett Wiltrout said “When we go into homes, kids are scared. When there’s a lot of stress and issues going on in the house, we give them teddy bears, Care Bears or a Kiwanis doll to hopefully make the situation a little better.” Wiltrout came up with the idea after seeing the collaboration when Early Risers Kiwanis members created 18 “hospital dolls” and donated them to the WPD, Nobles County Community Services and Sanford Worthington Medical Center as pictured above.
Kiwanis dolls: https://www.lagunaelkgrovekiwanis.org/pdfs/resources/ptp-doll-pattern.pdf
Tags for dolls: https://store.kiwanis.org/shop/kiw-0053-100-doll-tag-labels-2143#attr=
QWIK Awards (Quality Work Inspires Kids): Elementary students work one-on-one with their teacher to set attainable goals. These goals can be personal and/or academic. This is a time consuming project for the teachers, but so rewarding for everyone. Each month those students are recognized with a beautiful certificate and pencil for their achievements from the club members.
Used Children’s Books: Members have donated thousands of used children’s books to the local food pantry from garage sales, thrift stores and library sales. These Kiwanis members want every child that comes to the pantry to take a book home with them to keep;
City Parks: Adopt and clean three city parks every week from early spring to late fall;
Used Books and Magazines: Members donate their good used books and magazines (address labels are cut out) to the local Prairie Justice Center’s Library for the inmates;
Community Prayer Breakfast: Every spring the club hosts the Community Prayer Breakfast. This is a time for the residents to come together for a motivational/inspirational speaker.
Other Service Projects: Tutoring at the Alternative Learning Center (ALC) for students and adults; help residents to pass their citizenship test to become U.S. citizens; volunteer with various endeavors at the Manna Food Pantry; deliver Meals on Wheels; LOVE, Inc. (Love in the Name of Christ); Salvation Army Bell ringing and many more.
Financial Support: Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA); Back packs for school; Dollars for Scholars; YMCA Sustaining Fund; Renaissance (Middle School Academic Recognition); Love INC (Love in the Name of Christ); Friends of the Library; Helping Hands Pregnancy Center; MOPS (Mothers of PreSchool); CEO59 (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities); Every Meal Program; DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education); and the Minnesota-Dakotas District Education Foundation; District Outreach; Kiwanis International Annual Club Gift and Children’s Fund.
Early Risers Fundraisers
Grocery Dash: raffle tickets are sold with the first place wins up to$1,200.00 of groceries in a two minute dash through a local grocery store. Second, third and fourth place winners have an opportunity to place three items back on the shelf where they belong. Each one is timed and the person with the shortest amount of time wins second place, etc.
Farmer’s Market: Kiwanis Cake Cups are sold on Tuesdays and Saturdays. They are small or medium cakes in multiple flavors in a cup.
Peanut Day: Members hand out small bags of peanuts for a donation. These monies support the club’s K-Kids and VOKK groups. Some of the students help at each of the four locations for a few hours.
Pumpkin Painting: It wouldn’t be fall if a pumpkin painting wasn’t offered to the youth. A member donates the pumpkins and the public is invited to purchase a pumpkin with all supplies furnished. This is a fun event for the children and even adults.
Sponsor Service Leadership Programs (SLP)
These club sponsored programs are listed under Service Leadership Programs (SLP).