Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 24/04) - Where there are children in need, the Kiwanis Club can always be found pitching in, says past president Al Mueller.

"Our prime objective is to help youth, but that does not preclude us from helping any age group," Mueller says.

A relatively new service organization to make its way to Yellowknife -- its inception was Oct. 2, 2002 -- the club's popularity continues to grow, says Mueller.

"Our membership has grown by 150 per cent and we expect it to continue growing," he says.

Mueller described the club, which spans the globe, as progressive and modern.

"And we have a growing list of people who are considering joining. It's certainly not an old boys club," he added. "About 65 per cent of our members are women."

After arriving first in Hay River, Kiwanis began surveying the Yellowknife community to see if a new club was viable, says Mueller.

"We saw that it would be in our best interest to put a new chapter in place in Yellowknife," Mueller said.

Canada's northern-most Kiwanis Club is not without its challenges.

"District clubs find it difficult to travel here because of the associated costs. And because we are still a young club, we do not have the resources to go territories-wide yet, so we are concentrating on the Yellowknife area," Mueller says.

Being the first president of the Yellowknife Kiwanis, Mueller says he looked at various clubs which might be of benefit to the city, but liked the thought of forming a Kiwanis Club, partly because of its international aspect.

Thus far, that idea has been successful. Mueller says various Kiwanis projects have been ongoing with more ideas on the way.

"I found in the community, kids have limited activities. There is skating and the gym, but some need other activities," he said. "Right now, we're aiming to work with snowboarders to create a tube ride on Bristol Hill within the next two years. We also have a soapbox derby idea."

A recent project -- a weekend conference designed to help children fight back against bullying -- was deemed worthwhile and a success.

"We brought in representatives from schools and an expert on bullying. We organized it with two school districts and had 95 attendees as well as parents and teachers," Mueller said.

Another aspect of the club is that it will partner up with other service clubs to complete projects, he said.

The Kiwanis is not just an all-work organization, Mueller said, they do take time for fun.

"We have fun, social evenings along with the hard work," he said. "It's a good combo."