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Email me at trusteeoneill@gmail.com

Call/Text/FaceTime me at (520)591-0090

Skype me at Casey O’Neill

THE CHURRO

READY TO HAVE THE BEST KEY CLUB YEAR EVER?Welcome to the Official Newsletter of the Terrific Trio, Illinois-Eastern Iowa, Kansas, and the Minnesota-Dakotas Districts. My name is Casey O’Neill and I am honored to serve as your 2013-2014 International Trustee!

Good Morning Key Clubbers and

congratulations on being a part of the

largest and oldest student led service

organization in the world! I am

extremely excited to see what is in store

for us all in a whirlwind of an

upcoming year.

Since I haven’t met a large portion

of you all, here is a little about myself: I

will be a senior at Littleton High

School, in Littleton, Colorado.

Littleton HS will be my third high

school, and hopefully last. I’ve been a

Key Club member since my freshmen

year, but my story goes a decade before

then. Both of my parents were Key Club

Advisors when I was a kid, so I have

been involved with the best club in the

world since I can remember. The girl

behind me in the picture next to the

text is my beautiful younger sister, Eiley.

Eiley is my best friend, and one of the

funniest gals in the whole world. Before

I became an International Trustee, I

served as a Lieutenant Governor for

Division 3 of the Rocky Mountain

District, and I was Club Editor at

Cienega High School as a freshmen

when I was also a part of the Southwest

District.

The Official Newsletter of the Brother District Trio: I-I, Kansas

and MinnDak

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During LeadCon, I was luck enough to meet all the Governors I’d be working with. As I’m learning about each individual district, I reached out to see what others feel are their districts greatest weaknesses.

From the Minnesota Dakotas District,

Governor Katherine Lundquist:

One problem that the Minnesota-

Dakotas District has is low attendance at

regional events due to regions being very

spread out. This year we are confronting

this issue by having Lieutenant Governors

in geographically large regions host multiple

OTCs and Rallies in order to reach out to

more clubs. With multiple events clubs will

no longer be required to drive 3 hours or

more regional events. We also have recently

divided one of our regions into two smaller

divisions due in part to geographic distance

and because of club growth. By separating

those two areas we hope for higher event

attendance as rallies and OTCs will now be

closer to clubs.

The Minnesota-Dakotas District has

had a problem in past years with having

regions that are disconnected from the

district because they do not attend district

events, like DCON or Fall Rally, and they

do not have consistent communication with

their regional Liaison or Lieutenant

Governor. This becomes a downward spiral

as the region becomes more distant from

the district and international levels of Key

Club. These regions are typically then

appointed Liaisons from other regions,

because no one from that region will run

for Lieutenant Governor. This year there as

been a change in this trend as we only have

two liaison on our board, compared to four

last year, and one of the liaisons is a two

term board member who was able to get

members from her region to attend DCON.

We hope she will continue to improve

relations with this region throughout the

year and hopefully they will have a

candidate for Lieutenant Governor next

spring. We also hope the regions that last

year had liaisons but now have Lieutenant

Governors will be able to continue to

increase awareness in the region about the

importance of communication with the

district and international. The regions with

Lieutenant Governors now will also now

have regional rallies and officer trainings,

which will increase relationship within the

region.

From the Illinois Eastern Iowa

District, Lieutenant Governor Abby

Kauerauf of Division 28/29:

One of the most prevalent

challenges as a Lieutenant Governor can

also be the most important—

communication! This is especially true for

my divisions. When I first took over the

role of Lieutenant Governor, there were a

few schools in my divisions that had not

responded well with previous Lieutenant

Governors. Trying to break the ice with

these schools would be a big challenge.

Emails, a form of communication primarily

favored by almost all Lieutenant Governors,

can leave much to be desired, as they are

often ignored or skimmed over.

MEET THE BROTHERS

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I found that calling, texting or Facebook

messaging is a great way to get a hold of Key

Clubbers and advisors. For example, during

the end of the year, when Club Officer

Rosters were being submitted, contacting

clubs through phone was a great way to

collect rosters, while learning more about

the new officers and how I can help each

school individually. Communication is also

a great way to plan meetings with club

presidents and learn how to better help

your clubs.

From the Kansas District, Governor Jena

Ernsting:

The Kansas District has had a very

successful start to our Key Club year.

Through this successful start, there are

problems the board needs to work through

to continue the success and building of a

stronger district. The main problem the

board faces this year is increasing

communication from the International level

to the club level. In the past many valuable

resources, such as club building materials

and different funding options have not

made it to the clubs. To fix this, the board

is planning a stronger attack on

communication directly to club officers.

Many Lt. Governors are also interested in

holding division wide rallies including

officer training and a service projects.

Hopefully these rallies will increase District

Convention attendance. After choosing an

interesting District Convention theme, the

board plans on releasing videos and other

promotional flyers to increase member

anticipation for District Convention.

Thank you Katherine, Abby and

Jena!

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Key Club is proud to represent our newest sponsor, Rustic Pathways!Have you ever wanted to go on a trip of a

life time, but you really wanted it to

mean something not just to you,

but others? Key Club

International has paired with

Rustic Pathways, a global leader

in designing superior quality

community service, education, and

adventure programs. With 30 years of

experience, Rustic Pathways is providing the

opportunity to take our commitment

to be servant leaders to global

service. Below are some of the

specially designed district tours,

available all in the summer of

2014. Even if your district isn’t

below, you can always join in on

another district’s tour. Enjoy!

With global operations in 20 countries, Rustic Pathways has paved the way for providing superior quality community service, language immersion, and life skills for high school students.

CALI-NEV-HA CAPITAL NEW YORK NEW JERSEY NEW ENGLAND

Cambodia: From the Ground UpJuly 1- August 1,201455 Service Hours$2,495 + Airfare

Ghana: Volta Village Life and ServiceJuly 15 - July 30, 201430 Service Hours$2,795 + Airfare

India: Lost Children of IndiaJuly 23 - August 7, 201440 Service Hours$2,795 + Airfare

Thailand, Burma, and Laos: Tribal IssuesJuly 8, - July 23, 201464 Service Hours$3,295 + Airfare

Peru: Sacred Valley ServiceJuly 15 - July 30, 201452 Service Hours$2,995 + Airfare

10 customized

Key Club service

programs

RUSTIC PATHWAYS

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Need ideas for a fundraising project you and your club can do? Try one from the list below —or come up with your own! If you have new ideas, please share them with us. Send them to Campaign@TheEliminateProject.org.

A place to play. Set up a fall play day for moms with young children. Have club members sign up to staff booths for face-painting, games, sock-puppet theater and more. Ask for a small admission fee and see if nearby businesses would like to sponsor one of your activities. It’s also a great opportunity to educate mothers about The Eliminate Project. See if you can also partner with the local parent-teacher group at your high school to gain their support for your initiative.

Get in the game. Sponsor a powderpuff football tournament like the Myers High School Key Club did. Charge for admission and refreshments.

Run for the cause. Host a 1, 3 or 5K walk/run for your community. Encourage participants to wear costumes and offer prizes to the runners and/or walkers with the best costumes. And give them an incentive: Participants must raise at least US$25 in pledges for The Eliminate Project to be eligible for the costume prizes.

Team up for good. Ask a local restaurant to donate part of an evening’s earnings to UNICEF like the Key Club of Cypress Falls did. Make sure to publicize the event ahead of time to friends, family, neighbors and school staff.

Here are some other small examples:

•Host a penny drive.

•Organize a benefit concert.

•Have a poetry slam.

•Organize an art show.

•Rake leaves for donations.

THE ELIMINATE PROJECT

US$36,648,854.69As of July 16, 2013

US$73,351,145.31

to fundraise until

ICON 2015

28 Countries Left with MNT

I met Avery at my very first District Convention about a year and half ago. I remember a huge smile, and a guy who had the determination of a fox! Avery is one of the most intelligent and caring people I have ever meet. Here’s a little bit more about him!

How did you get involved with Key Club?

I learned about Key Club about my time in Builder’s Club, but then I switched schools and later found Key Club during a school service fair. I wanted to keep doing service throughout my high school career.

Why did you stay with Key Club?When I went to my first District Convention, I met so many people I was amazed to meet so many caring people. We were all so united, and shared a common bond.

What has been your favorite Key Club memory so far?At District Convention in 2013, our board members found out that we had reached our goal of US$18,009 dollars during The Eliminate Luncheon. Our goal represented that it only takes US$1.80 to save a mother and her future babies, and the ‘09’ stood for every nine minutes one baby dies of tetanus. We surpassed our goal, it was amazing.

What is your favorite service project?Anything that has to do with March of Dimes because many of my friends were born prematurely, so it’s good to know that there’s an organization to work towards better education and development towards a brighter future!

What do you expect out of this year as a International Trustee?

I hope to inspire others, do service, develop a sense of friendship throughout my districts, and continue to love Key Club in my last year of high school.

From the Rocky

Mountain District

MEET AVERY HITCHCOCK