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Communities & Clubs: It’s the season for giving back

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This is a busy time of the year for our communities’ service clubs. Some club members are ringing Salvation Army bells and staffing the donation kettles at local shopping centers. Others are delivering food and Christmas gifts to families in need. Still others are partnering with their Interact or Key Club groups, and decorating their Rose Parade floats in time for the New Year’s Day parade in Pasadena.

Speaking of the Rose Parade, the Kiwanis International Float will be seventh in the parade lineup, while the Lions International float will be No. 48 and Rotary International’s float No. 51. The parade begins at 8 a.m. on Jan. 1. The best TV viewing in Southern California will be on KTLA Channel 5.

Circle K at OCC

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The Orange Coast College Circle K Club, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa, has become a force of community service in Costa Mesa. Growing from just one member in 2007 to 77 today, the club focuses on service, leadership and fellowship. Last month, club members completed more than 900 service hours.

Members of the club — which is one of seven at colleges and universities in Orange County and hundreds of chapters internationally — include OCC Student Body President Cat Tran, Vice Presidents Steven Quach and Ruben Ruiz, Interclub Council President Jonathan Cao-Nguyen and Secretary Lauren Kim, College Life Council Secretary Tanya Tran.

Circle K members have service projects every week. Recent projects include the Boys & Girls Club Halloween Carnival, Orange County Model Engineers/Kiwanis Pumpkin Patch, OCC Science Night, the Orange County Children’s Book Festival, CHOC Walk, the CROP Walk against Hunger, Share Our Selves and many more. Members are planning a sports tournament for Jan. 22 to raise funds for children’s charities.

The club is organized with an elected board: Christine Nguyen, president; Cat Tran and Ruben Ruiz, vice presidents; Vincent Vu, treasurer; and Jonathan Cao-Nguyen, secretary. Committee chairs include Kelly Ho, Kiwanis family relations; Stephanie Nguyen, membership development and education; Shelby Paisley, scrapbook; Alan Chung, technology; Jennifer Que and Ryan Pham, spirit and social; Colin Wu, historian; Paul Jessup and Tanya Tran, public relations; and Lauren Kim, fundraising.

During a recent weekend, 30 members attended the California-Nevada-Hawaii Circle K District Fall Training Conference with 450 other Circle K members from schools throughout the district. The students spent three days in leadership seminars and other activities designed to prepare their club and the other Circle K clubs for a successful year.

Orange Coast Circle K placed third in the T-shirt design competition with a shirt the club uses to market itself to other students. New members were inducted into Circle K by District Governor Danny Ha, a student at Cal State Fullerton.

For more information about Orange Coast College Circle K, please see occcirclek.org.

Thought for the day

“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.” - Confucius

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK

You are invited to attend a service club meeting this coming week to learn more about opportunities for service. Most clubs will buy your first meal for you as you get acquainted with them.

TODAY

Noon: The Exchange Club of Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, 1601 Bayside Drive, Corona del Mar, for a business meeting.

5:15 p.m.: The 10-member Rotary Club of Costa Mesa meets at the Ramada Inn & Suites, 1680 Superior Ave., Costa Mesa. Visit https://www.costamesarotary.org.

6 p.m.: The 61-member Rotary Club of Newport Balboa meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for the Holiday dinner and Christmas Boat Parade viewing. https://www.newportbalboa.org

THURSDAY

7 a.m.: The 20-member Costa Mesa Orange Coast Lions Club meets at Mimi’s Café, Newport & Harbor Boulevards, Costa Mesa.

11 a.m.: The 95-member Exchange Club of Newport Harbor meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a program by Taryn Poole on “Q Lasers.” For more information, visit https://www.nhexchange.org

Noon: The 45-member Kiwanis Club of Newport Beach-Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. For more information, visit https://www.newportbeachkiwanis.org.

The 40-member Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa meets at the Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club, 1701 Golf Course Drive, Costa Mesa. For more information, visit https://www.costamesaKiwanis.org.

The 45-member Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa meets at the Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club. https://www.costamesakiwanis.org

TUESDAY

7:15 a.m.: The 48-member Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club meets at the Five Crowns, 3801 E. Coast Hwy., Corona del Mar, for a program by John Roberts, “The Physics of Music.” https://www.newportbeachsunriserotary.org.

COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Wednesdays. Send your service club’s meeting information by fax to (714) 921-8655 or by e-mail to jdeboom@aol.com.

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