Kiwanis Club of West St Andrew inspiring change
Published:Saturday | October 18, 2025 | 12:07 AMKeisha Hill/Senior Gleaner Writer
A TOUCH of elegance, class and camaraderie set the perfect backdrop for the installation ceremony of the new administration of the Kiwanis Club of West St Andrew, held recently at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel.
The past year was filled with great achievements and was led by now Immediate Past President Claudine Heaven. Through hard work, commitment and voluntarism, Heaven’s team embodied the Kiwanis spirit, and the communities of West St Andrew benefited from their many projects and programmes.
Heaven said it was the team’s willingness to serve that has led them to many heights throughout the year, of which they were proud.
“At the outset, we took the decision that membership growth, education and retention would form the nucleus of our actions. Without new members to contribute new ideas and new perspectives, we would not grow. Without educating these members on the ideals of Kiwanis, we would lose their attention and, without demonstrating the Objects of Kiwanis in a practical way, we would run the risk of becoming duplicitous in word and deed,” Heaven said.
She indicated that they were successful in growing their West St Andrew family by 14 new members this year. They also received the gold award for their signature project for EC&C District and, to top that, they also received the silver award from Kiwanis International as the second-place winner of the signature project contest.
The club continued their feeding programme with the Red Hills Golden agers, and also continued working with nine sponsored schools, including the Edith Dalton James High School Key Club, their newest addition.
Other projects included the Nest on Mannings Hill Road, the visually impaired students at the Salvation Army School for the Blind, Laura Basic School, Red Hills Basic School and Cooreville Gardens Basic School.
“This year, we embarked on a remarkable project with these youngsters, recognising that brain development for languages starts as early as 12 months old. We took on the mammoth task of introducing Spanish as a second language to these three basic schools,” Heaven said.
Heaven handed over the baton to now president, Maurice Livingstone, who has pledged, along with his new administration, to continue fulfilling the mandate of inspiring the change, rendering service and building better communities.
“Our mandate is to effectively serve the community, increase membership, and develop leaders, all while ensuring the club functions efficiently by managing meetings, projects, and finances and promoting the Kiwanis mission. This involves setting club goals and a strategic plan, overseeing committees and fostering member engagement,” Livingstone said.
He indicated that the importance of the Kiwanis club lies in its global, community-focused mission to serve children and build better communities through service projects, fundraising, and fostering servant leadership, thereby creating lasting positive impacts on the lives of youth and families worldwide.
“Our objective is to build supportive communities where youth can thrive, which in turn creates a positive ripple effect for the entire community. We will continue to encourage an intelligent, aggressive and serviceable citizenship by providing practical means for members to work together and contribute to their communities,” Livingstone said.
Meanwhile, during the ceremony, Arlene Brown Gregory received the Rookie of The Year award for 2024/2025; and President-elect Designate Sherrell Wilson received the award as Kiwanian of the Year for 2024/2025.
Livingstone’s team includes, Vice-president Michelle Golding-Hylton; President-elect Sherrell Wilson; secretary, Charmaine Shaw; treasurer, Clava Mantock; immediate past president, Claudine Heaven, and directors Doreen Preston, Kai Melissa Heaven, Maxine Burton, Relda Scott and Dollis Campbell.