By Rachel Myers, Features Editor
Circle K is revamping its mission on campus. As a service group, it is tackling new projects to get the campus community involved in service.
In the wake of the graduation of senior leadership, Circle K is making the most of its reconstruction and making its presence through service as influential as ever.
Its foundations are with the district-wide organization K Family of Kiwanis International. President Justin Kalinay ’13 said the group has recently initiated building stronger connections with this affiliate.
According to Kalinay, the group is playing catch-up this year, engaging in new projects and encouraging student involvement. “It’s a means to provide opportunities for students to provide a service, to be involved in the community and give back to that community,” Kalinay said.
Students may remember becoming acquainted with Circle K during fall semester at their event Battle of the Bands. Held in the campus venue the Underground, Battle of the Bands is a performance competition among student music groups. The winner is determined by which band garners the greatest total donation from the audience by the end of the evening. The event is held in coalition with the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, which helps promote music education across the country.
Jeremy Ludemann ’14 was involved with the event last semester. “It was a great experience for me. I really enjoyed helping with an event that put up a good face for the campus. It’s a campus that cares about service,” Ludemann said.
Ludemann is the current service chair for Circle K. His responsibilities include correlating with other service organizations across the Wooster community to find projects for the group to engage the campus community. “We are a group of students that care about serving others and serving the community,” Ludemann said.
Circle K is currently orchestrating several projects. Kalinay and Ludemann noted the group’s Humane Society service as one of the core, ongoing initiatives. Typically, every week there is a van or carpool to bus volunteers to the shelter.
Another upcoming event is Relay for Life, hosted at the College on April 15 and 16. Circle K is building a team as well as tabling for the event to get the word out.
A new project for spring semester is affiliated with Ronald McDonald House. In conjunction with Residence Life, Circle K is facilitating a mass collection of pop-tabs by the RAs of all campus residence halls and Greek housing, Kalinay explained.
Alex Beard ’13, vice president of the group, noted that turning the project into a competition is a fun way to get students involved.
According to Kalinay, every two weeks, Circle K will collect the tabs and weigh them, keeping track until the end of April. The RAs who collect the most tabs will win a prize, such as a pizza party to enjoy with their residents. There will be two winners, one Greek RA and one non-Greek RA.
The tabs will be sent to the Ronald McDonald House in Cleveland as a part of their recycling initiative. The tabs are sold to recycling centers for cash, and Ronald McDonald House uses the proceeds in their service work, according to the organization’s website.
Beard has valued her experiences in Circle K. “I think it’s a great opportunity. I’ve met tons of people that I wouldn’t have gotten to meet otherwise,” Beard said.
Circle K engages in service projects with organizations all over the community. They are working on initiatives with the Salvation Army, United Way, Greenhouse and the YMCA. Beard said she had fun traveling to the events with other volunteers.
Beard’s message to the rest of the campus community was a call to action. “I would like them to know that† [Circle K] exists, and that we have activities that they can take advantage of,” Beard said.
Kalinay also emphasized that participation in Circle K is very open. The emphasis is not on service hours and students do not have to be due paying members just to participate in the activities. The focus is on service and helping the community.
The three tenets of Circle K are service, leadership and fellowship, and those are the qualities the group strives to emulate.
Circle K meets on Mondays at 6:15 p.m. in Lowry 120.