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March Issue

LIVE TO SERVE, LOVE TO SERVE!

UW Madison Circle K Official Club Newsletter

Whats In This Issue?

o DCON Recap o Service Highlight: River Food Pantry o Member of the Month o Kiwanis One Day o GOALS o Social Segment o A Word from our District Bulletin Editor o Daynas DIY

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DCON Recap By Stephanie Van Kampen

Last month, on the weekend of February 27th March 1st, twelve of our club members drove to Eau Claire, WI for an exciting weekend at the Wisconsin-Upper Michigans annual District Convention (DCON). The Divergent-Themed DCON began on Friday night with opening ceremonies, followed by fun activities such as karaoke, service projects, a giant game of Apples to Apples, and much more. On both Friday night and Saturday, caucusing sessions were held, where District Board candidates made campaign speeches and answered questions from the members. Elections for these positions were also held during the House of Delegates on Saturday, and we are excited to announce the election of the following UW-Madison members onto the District Board: o Five Yang: District Governor o Connor Sawyers: District Secretary o Rachael Mogck: District Treasurer o Angela Campbell: Capital Division Lieutenant Governor

Congratulations, everyone! Also on Saturday, members were able to learn more about Circle K and leadership through informative, engaging workshops. Several of these workshops included K-Family, Icebreakers, ELIMINATE Project, and workshops relating to the factions from the Divergent movie.

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During the Saturdays luncheon, we listened to some great speakers from each of the Kiwanis Family branches (Kiwanis, Aktion Club, Key Club, Builders Club, and K-Kids) talk about their organization and how they interact with Circle K. Later that night, during dinner, an awards ceremony was held to recognize those clubs and individuals for their achievements. The awards that our club and members of our club received are as follows: o Outstanding Kiwanis Family Relations o Distinguished Circle K Alumni Taryn Grisham, 2014 Graduate o Outstanding Club Bulletin Editor Trina La Susa o Outstanding Club Vice President Stephanie Van Kampen

Congrats to everyone on their hard work this year! Finally, following dinner, we had a blast showing off our moves at the dance. The DJ played all of the classics like the Cha-Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle, but my favorite throwback was definitely Bowling for Soups 1985. We had a sleepy ride home on Sunday morning after closing ceremonies, but the exciting, fun-filled weekend was definitely worth the exhaustion! We hope to see you at next years DCON in Green Bay, the theme for which will be announced at our next district event, Spring Fling!

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Service Highlight: River Food Pantry! By: Taylor Shuster

The River Food Panty is a food pantry here in Madison where we volunteer on a bi-weekly basis. Our club has been volunteering there for over 4 years now, and enjoys doing so! The River Food Pantrywas started in 2006 by Andy and Jenny Czerkas with a mission to bring a message of mercy and hope to those in need by providing nutritional basics and encouragement, and to be unifying, servant-hearted, and an expression of the community. During the week, the pantry offers fresh meals, grocery items, and occasionally live music to patrons of Dane County, no questions asked. In 2014 alone, the pantry received 29,333 family visits, provides over 1.8 million pounds of food a year to the members of Dane County. Each week that we volunteer at The River Food Pantry with Circle K, our duties consist of: Assisting to serve hot food to patrons, helping patrons select items from the grocery section of the pantry (fresh food, non perishables, etc.), helping to load and return carts, assisting in the clothing section of the pantry, or helping to watch children as their parents select items for the family. Often times other UW student orgs can be found volunteering alongside us. Every time that we volunteer there, we are allowed a fresh hot meal at the end of our volunteer shift. YUMMY! If you are looking for an exciting, hands-on type of service project, the River Food Pantry is for you!!

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Whitney Nelson

Im Whitney, an undergraduate transfer student at UW-Madison! Im a third year and my declared major is social welfare. Im going to UW Madison to become a licensed social worker and I love the opportunities to volunteer that Circle K has given me. This is my first year at Madison and Ive loved getting to know new people and experiencing all of the great things that Madison and Circle K has to offer. Fun fact: I was born in Louisville, Kentucky so I was almost a Southerner!

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KIWANIS ONE DAY By: Monica Wang

Kiwanis One Day is a very special day every year, where Kiwanis Family members all over the world get together to celebrate their past year of service (and the beginning of a new one). This year, Kiwanis One Day is on Saturday, April 11th, and our Wisconsin-Upper Michigan District is putting on five events all over our district, in Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Eau Claire, and Escanaba. In Madison, we will be meeting at Henry Vilas Zoo in front of the Visitor's Center at 9:00 a.m. for registration and job assignments. We will start by volunteering all around the zoo from 9:30-12:30, and then enjoy a catered Jimmy John's lunch together at the Visitor's Center. For more information and specific details, please contact Monica Wang at monica.wang23@gmail.com. We hope to see a huge Circle K presence there! Please fill out this registration link if you are planning on attending: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1s94zcP9KzhrchKQTBQ7-J-iTjkG7Rghhvx1AeJuJiUY/viewform

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UW MADISON CLUB GOALS!

UW MADISON CLUB GOALS!

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Social Segment By: Austyn Chervenka

The bad news is that this will be my last Social Segment newsletter as your Social Chair for the Circle K year of 2014/2015. However, the good news is that I will be your Social Chair again for the 2015/2016 year and will continue the Social Segment. Before kicking off the new Circle K year, Id like to make the goals of the Social Chair and our Social Ks clear. Simply put, the point of our socials is to induce real friendships and happiness within our organization. As human beings, we have this unique ability to have our minds stray away from the present. It allows us to learn and plan and reason in ways that no other species of animal can. You've probably heard people suggest that you should stay focused on the present. Maybe, to really be happy, we need to stay completely immersed and focused on our experience in the moment. Too often we allow our minds to wander in a vain attempt to enter a happier reality than what we are currently experiencing, or we allow our minds to dwell on our lives stressors. Mind-wandering is just one enemy to achieving happiness. There are other enemies to happiness although I do not have the time or space to expand on this subject fully at the moment. What is important to take away from this is that the happiest people spend the least time alone. They pursue personal growth and intimacy; they judge themselves by their own yardsticks, never against what others do or have.

Life satisfaction occurs most often when people are engaged in absorbing activities that cause them to forget themselves, lose track of time and stop worrying. A life of many absorbing activities that can be defined as both work and play is likely to be a life of great satisfaction. So let us strive as an organization to immerse ourselves in our service projects and our social events. Let us check our worries at the door and simply just live to serve, love to serve.

Key Future Events

1.) Shake, Rattle, and Roll. April 15th.

2.) Comedy Club. April 23rd.

3.) Badger Blitz 5k Obstacle Run. April 24th.

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Hi neighbors! I hope all of you are taking some time to rest over your Spring Break. The good news is that you are halfway done with spring semester--can you believe it? Things are certainly moving fast in Circle K-land as well. As Im sure many of you know, we just elected the new Wisconsin-Upper Michigan District Board for the 2015-2016 Circle K year. This means that the end of my term is quickly approaching, and the new District Bulletin Editor, Casey Scheibengraber (scheibcf@gmail.com), will continue my duties on April 1st. If you have any questions about newsletters, promotional materials, or event advertising, either one of us will be more than happy to assist you! In other district news, our next event, Spring Fling, is right around the corner! This event will take place at Camp Wawbeek in Wisconsin Dells on April 24-26. The registration cost is $20, but keep in mind that this is an all-inclusive event (FOOD and lodging provided)! You will have the opportunity to do some service projects around camp, meet tons of WUM members (future friends!), and participate in a variety of workshops. This is a must-attend event, especially because the theme is SUPERHEROES. I hope to see all you Badgers there--dont forget your capes! Much love, Marissa, your almost has-been District Bulletin Editor (marissabmore@gmail.com)

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DAYNAS DIY My Pinterest and Etsy feeds are full of hair bows and garlands, so when one of my friends suggested the idea of making garland of bowsI KNEW IT WAS A BRILLIANT ONE! This DIY project combines two of these adorable items and is a fun, cheap and easy project. It only takes three simple steps!!

Youll need: o Paper o Embroidery Floss o Needle o Glue o Pencil o Scissors

1. Make a template and cut it out, youll then trace it as many times as you need on the paper. (I put 12 bows on a strand of garland, but its up to you!)

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3. Once youve glued your bows

together, thread a needle with the embroidery floss and then thread the bows to create your garland. Hang it up somewhere so all your friends can see!

2. Cut out your bows and assemble the bows. Youll start by folding each rounded edge into the middle and then youll glue the tails on the back.