CMH partners with AKtion Club to help foster families

Foster families in Clinton County met the back-to-school crunch with confidence thanks to the St. Johns Kiwanis 707 AKtion Club and Clinton Memorial Hospital.

Kiwanians, AKtion Club members and Clinton Memorial Associates came together to provide 116 backpacks filled with essential school supplies to benefit foster children entering elementary school this month.

"This project gave AKtion Club members and our hospital Associates a wonderful opportunity to do something very special for children in our community," said Nan Simons, Clinton Memorial Hospital Director of Community Relations and St. Johns Kiwanis AKtion Club liaison.

Service Excellence Advisors at the hospital supported the project, encouraging their peers to donate backpacks and supplies. St. Johns Kiwanis and individual members, Firstbank and Clinton Memorial Administration also funded and made donations to the project.

Within 10 days, these groups contributed:

116 backpacks

400 spiral notebooks

250 packages of pencils

200 erasers

175 packages of pens

150+ packages of crayons

120 rulers

100 glues sticks

100 folders

93 safety scissors

78 glue bottles

65 packages of colored markers

63 packages of colored pencils

50 highlighters

AKtion Club members stuffed backpacks Aug. 18 for delivery Aug. 20.

Teens in the Clinton County MSU Extension Office’s Creating Connections program, for young people in foster care and transitioning from foster care, visited Transitions-St. Johns on Aug. 20. Creating Connections teens developed a catering business earlier this year, and they provided lunch for AKtion Club members in appreciation for their hard work and commitment to community.

Kiwanis AKtion Club members are young and mature adults with disabilities. The St. Johns AKtion Club is supported by St. Johns Kiwanis 707 in cooperation with Transitions-St. Johns, a CEI-Community Mental Health Authority affiliate, serving adults with developmental disabilities who live in Clinton County.

Transitions-St. Johns provides individuals with opportunities to participate in a variety of recreational and volunteer activities on a daily basis, enabling them to become more active and valued members of their local communities.