SRJC: Circle K

About Us

Index of Topics

Service
Leadership
Fellowship

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What is CKI?
Circle K International is the world's largest collegiate service organization, with over 11,000 collegians. Circle K is a club found on college campuses that promotes service and fellowship to its members and to the community that they serve. The club is sponsored by Kiwanis International as part of their youth services programs. It allows the young people of today to become more responsible leaders for tomorrow.

Circle K clubs are found at over 500 college campuses in eleven nations. Each club provides thousands of service hours each year in a variety of projects both on a local level and on a world-wide level. Each weekend you can find hundreds of Circle K'ers attending their various projects like beach clean-ups, working with the elderly, cheering at Special Olympics, or collecting goods for those in need.

Our district service initiative is To Infinity and Beyond. This includes three different areas of service: Pediatric Trauma, Mentoring, and Literacy. Pediatric Trauma is defined as the accidental injury of children under the age of 19. Pediatric Trauma is completely preventable through education programs and ensuring that children are supervised and use all proper safety equipment. Click on the image for more information regarding our district service initiative.

Values of Circle K
Circle K has three tenents. They are service, leadership and fellowship. The three values can summerize the purpose of the Circle K.

Service [http://www.circlek.org/service/what.htm]
As one of the three tenets, service is a fundamental element of Circle K International. Collectively, Circle K members perform more than 1 million hours of service on their campuses and in their communities annually. Without service, Circle K International would be just another campus activity. Through service, college students are making the world a better place.

Leadership [http://www.circlek.org/sponsor/leadership.htm]
Through the mission and vision of the organization, Circle K International is dedicated to the realization of mankind’s potential. The potential of Circle K International lies in its ability to positively influence members of society who are facing ultimate personal decisions and those who will one day create the vision of mankind for generations to come. Leadership opportunities afford Circle K members the resources and tools needed to become active citizens. Circle K’ers can assume leadership responsibilities at all levels of the organization and through various experiential training conferences.

Fellowship [http://www.circlek.org/happenings/what.htm]
If there is one thing that Circle K’ers know best, it is fellowship. Whether they are planning a car wash, visiting shut-ins, reading to three-year-olds or conducting business, Circle K members across the globe take time to meet and welcome new people. With each element and aspect of Circle K International, members experience fellowship and develop life-long relationships with fellow collegians, advisors, Kiwanians and citizens in their communities. Whether a Circle K’er is mentoring a child, networking with a businessman, or bowling with members, that Circle K’er is developing social skills, meeting new people and strengthening relationships.

History of CKI
In 1936 Jay N. Emerson, a member of the Pullman Washington Kiwanis Club, presented a plan to his club proposing that the Pullman Kiwanis Club purchase a house that could be rented to young men in need of assistance to attend the local college. The plan became a reality as the Kiwanians established the "Circle K House" at Washington State College. For ten years the "Circle K House" became affiliated with a Greek letter organization, although it continued to be sponsored by the Pullman Kiwanis Club.

Eleven years later, in 1947, Donald T. Forsythe, Trustee of Kiwanis International, aided in transitioning Circle K from a fraternity to a service-oriented organization. That year, during September, the first Circle K club similar to our present-day organization, was chartered at Carthage College in Carthage, Illinois.

For two years, the Carthage College Circle K Club existed alone. But on March 26, 1949, the University of Western Ontario became the second Circle K Club to charter. Carthage College and the University of Western Ontario were soon joined by the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute on May 13, 1949. Circle K gained momentum and grew rapidly throughout the United States; sixteen more clubs chartered in 1950.

With the formation of Circle K clubs, Kiwanis International established a Special Committee on Circle K Clubs in 1952. The motto of the organization became the same as that of Kiwanis International: "We Build."

History of California-Nevada-Hawaii (Cal-Nev-Ha) District
The first Circle K club was founded in 1947, and the California-Nevada-Hawaii District was one of the two founding Districts of Circle K International, along with the Michigan District. Cal-Nev-Ha was instrumental in the internationalization of the organization. Chartered on December 12, 1957, the district was founded with thirty-one clubs and has grown to over forty clubs at the present.

The District has won a variety of awards over the years, and has had its host of International officers as well. Cal-Nev-Ha has won Distinguished District several times over the past two decades, has had two International Presidents, and many International Trustees. This district has always been in the foreground, both in membership, achievements, and most importantly, service.