Kiwanis Enjoys New Mexico School For The Deaf MSD K-Kids Presentation

Students from the New Mexico School for the Deaf K-Kids Club sign the National Anthem during the March 10 Kiwanis Club meeting. Photo by Karin Church/Kiwanis

NMSD K-Kids Club members present a slide show on their club. Photo by Karin Church/Kiwanis

BY BROOKE DAVIS
Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos

At their March 10 evening meeting, the Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos welcomed students, staff and parents from one of their newest K-Kids service clubs from the New Mexico School for the Deaf (NMSD).

The students gave an enthusiastic and entertaining signed presentation, using interpreters, along with a slide show they had created. They started off by playing a recording of the national anthem while the students signed and acted out the words. The individual students then took turns describing their projects, fundraising efforts, and future plans.

In their first community service endeavor they wanted to choose a something that would support a local business and was also close to the NMSD campus, which was to make cat toys and cat scratchers to donate to the Cat Café in Santa Fe. The students revealed how much fun it was to present these gifts to the café owners, with the added bonus of hot chocolate and some time to play with the cats. They are currently working on a second project to provide clothing and games to the Santa Fe Youth Shelter.

Fundraising has so far included selling See’s lollipops and making posters to advertise. The kids decide by voting on the projects they will pursue. In the future, they plan to collect non- perishable food items for the Food Depot.

They are a very dynamic group and have shown a lot of initiative and enthusiasm for community service. When asked what they liked most about their K-Kids experience, they answered helping people, working together, and of course the fun (and the candy)

A NMSD K-Kids Club member tells Kiwanis about making cat toys for the Cat Cafe in Santa Fe. Photo by Karin Church/Kiwanis

A K-Kid member from NMSD explains how cat toys are made for the Cat Cafe. Photo by Karin Church/Kiwanis

Kiwanis hears about taking the cat toys to the Cat Cafe. Photo by Karin Church/Kiwanis

Kris Eaton, right, is the sponsor of the NMSD K-Kids Club. Photo by Karin Church/Kiwanis