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Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

When I joined the Albert Lea Noon Kiwanis Club in 2015, I had just become editor at the Tribune, and I was looking to network and be a part of something good in the community.

Over the years I’ve seen our club be a part of some amazing things.

We’ve organized and received donations of thousands of books to read to area children, raised money for scholarships, given gifts to families at Christmas time and been a part of an effort to help classrooms of children set and achieve goals, and most recently raise money to go toward the new Albert Lea inclusive playground. The list goes on and on, but these are some of the efforts I, personally, have been a part of.

Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers centered around improving the world by improving children and communities, and I am proud to be a part of a group with that focus.

Tuesday evening, I met with a group of other Kiwanians from the three Albert Lea Kiwanis clubs and the Action Club for the annual installation dinner of our new officers to serve for the next year.

As I listened to the reports of what each club had done that year, I was reminded what a great organization I am a part of, and the enjoyment I get from serving the community through the club. We are all actively seeking new members for our clubs, and I can guarantee that if you join one and commit to being active, it will be a fulfilling experience for you, too.

One of the projects the Noon Kiwanis Club presently is working on is an online contest, in which we are in the running for $25,000 through Kiwanis International for Albert Lea’s inclusive playground.

Anyone can vote daily for the Albert Lea project by visiting play.kiwanis.org, selecting the All Together Albert Lea Inclusive Playground project and then clicking on the heart with the entry. The website asks you to register your email address and then your vote is valid. Voting continues through Sept. 30, and again you can vote once a day. The top 10 projects with the most votes advance to a final judging phase in which the winner will be selected. The winner will be announced mid-October.

When I typed this column Tuesday evening, Albert Lea’s project had thus far received the second-most votes.

We thank those of you who have voted and encourage you to keep it up each day for the rest of the month.

The Noon Kiwanis Club is also excited to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year and will have an event next month to do so.