The Kiwanis Club of Westfield wishes our beloved past president Dale Mae Dickson a very happy 80th birthday today.

Dale became a member in 1999, became club vice-president the following year, and then took on the job of club president in 2001 when her predecessor unexpectedly resigned. She has been a friend and mentor to all who followed her in the role.

Well-known in the Westfield business community, Dale enjoyed a long and distinguished career as superintendent of the city’s iconic Pine Hill Cemetery, retiring several years ago.

Happy birthday, Dale!

Food insecurity is a major problem in Western Massachusetts. A study conducted for the Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham a few weeks ago warned that food insecurity is increasing across the state, and especially in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.

Our club is committed to assuring that our friends and neighbors have access to health, quality food sources like the Westfield Food Pantry.

Every third grade student in Westfield’s schools is getting a lesson on bicycle safety and a new bike helmet from the Westfield Kiwanis Club.

Past club president Brad Cassin, himself an avid cyclist, is presenting a program on bicycle safety to third graders at every Westfield public and parochial elementary school in May and June. As part of the program, each student is fitted with a new high-quality bike helmet by Kiwanis volunteers. The helmets are provided by the Kiwanis Club with the assistance of New Horizons Bikes and the Friends of the Columbia Greenway.

Cassin teaches the students how to do a pre-ride safety check, how to avoid common riding safety mistakes, proper use of reflectors and lights, how to signal turns, the importance of wearing a helmet, and more.

The children are also informed about a new Westfield Police Department safety initiative. This summer, city police officers will stop children seen riding their bikes, scooters, or skateboards while wearing proper helmets to reward them with a coupon for a free ice cream cone. The coupons can be redeemed at Mrs. C’s Soft Serve, Mr. Whippy’s Golf Acres, or Northside Creamery. The program is funded by Westfield Gas & Electric/Whip City Fiber.

Outstanding student leaders from the Westfield Kiwanis Club’s sponsored high school Key Clubs were honored recently at a ceremony during a weekly Kiwanis Club meeting.

Kiwanis’s Key Club International is the world’s oldest and largest student-led high school service organization, with more than 200,000 members and around 5,000 clubs worldwide. Key Club was founded in Sacramento, California, in 1925.

The Westfield Kiwanis Club sponsors Kiwanis Key Club chapters at Westfield High School, Westfield Technical Academy, St. Mary’s High School and West Springfield High School.

The Key Club Distinguished Service awards are presented to a Key Club member in the Senior class who, in the opinion of the club’s faculty advisor, has shown outstanding leadership and compiled an excellent record of service. This year’s award winners are:

• Andy Liu, Westfield High School, selected by advisor Thomas O’Neill.

• Brady Dominik, St. Mary’s High School, selected by advisor Matthew Collins.

• Laylah Debian, West Springfield High School, selected by advisor Anita-Ann Moore.

Each student was presented with a certificate of appreciation from the club and a $500 cash award.

Forrest McSweeney, director of The Uplift Project and a member of the Northampton Kiwanis Club, told Westfield Kiwanis members Thursday about his agency’s work building self-sufficiency in a remote Guyanan village.

McSweeney told members about his experiences hiking with his family in the small country on the northern coast of South America. He explained that the poverty and difficult conditions he saw in rural villages made him want to do something to help. His answer was The Uplift Project, which is designed to help Guyanas help themselves by providing financing for local farmers, businesses, and entrepreneurs.

He told club members about a woman in a remote village who supported herself in part by baking bread for sale. Her tiny propane-fired oven would only permit her to bake two loaves of bread at one time, he learned. Through donations, The Uplift Project was able to buy her a new, large oven that can handle six loaves of bread at a time, greatly increasing her earning capacity.

Others have been helped with donations of farm tools, produce processing machinery, and other equipment, a sewing machine, and more.

McSweeney said a current important project involves the purchase and installation of 500 gallon rainwater retention tanks and roof gutter systems to facilitate the collection and storage of rainwater, which is the only source of potable water for many villagers. To help raise funds for purchase and installation of these tanks, which cost approximately $500 US each, McSweeney is planning a 100 mile solo trek in June through the Guyana rainforest. He is asking supporters to make a per-mile pledge, all of which will go to the water tank program. Pledges can be made at https://upliftproject.org/project-walk-for-clean-water/

It’s high school graduation season, and with it comes the Westfield Kiwanis Club’s annual awards to some of the area’s most outstanding students.

The Westfield Kiwanis Good Citizen Award is presented annually to students at the four high schools in the club’s service area – Westfield High School, Westfield Technical Academy, St. Mary’s High School, and Southwick Regional School.

The prestigious award is one of the oldest such awards in Massachusetts, originating more than 70 years ago. Winners are chosen on the basis of demonstrated and authenticated altruistic service to their schools and communities.

The award is not a scholarship. Rather, winners receive a $1,000 cash prize and are asked to address a Kiwanis Club meeting.

The 2026 winners are:

Lani Ching from Westfield High School. She is a four-year member of the school’s Kiwanis Key Club member who participated in many of that club’s volunteer activities, including The Rays of Hope Walk, the Luminara event in West Springfield, and serving at the Westfield soup kitchen. She is also a four-year member of the Letters for Rose Club. As a freshman she was a member of the school’s Future Medical Professionals Club, which she restarted in her junior year and served as president after the club went dormant. She has been a member of the Westfield High School Concert/Marching Band and the Jazz Ensemble, serving on the Westfield High Band Student Assistant Leadership Team since her freshman year. She was inducted into the Tri-M Music Honors Society in 2023. She has played unified basketball since her sophomore year and unified track since her junior year. She was a member of National Honor Society and the Westfield High Girls Swim and Dive team., and founded the Westfield High School Asian Cultural in 2025-2026. She founded the nonprofit organization Melodic Miracles Foundation in 2024.

Gina Foint from St. Mary’s High School is a four-year member the school’s Kiwanis Key Club, serving as vice-President her sophomore year, and president the past two years. She has been involved in numerous service projects, including cooking for the Community Table, assisting with the St. Vincent de Paul food program, and planning and executing an Easter Basket charity drive for children served by the St. Vincent DePaul Society. Gina was a four-year member of Student Council and has served as vice president of her class for all 4 years. She has served as student ambassador for her school and has been on the softball team for 3 years. Gina received the St. Thomas Aquinas Award for Academic Excellence and in her junior year, she was honored with the Mother Teressa Award for Community Service

Damien Crocker from Westfield Technical Academy, has been a member of the WTA Honor Society since his sophomore year and had done many volunteer activities with the group. He has served as president of the Westfield Technical Academy PRISM (People Respecting Identity, Sexuality, and More) Club since his freshman year, and is involved in fundraising to support the club’s field trips. The collaborates with Westfield on Weekends. This year, Damien joined the Drama Club and is a cast member in the play “Curtains: The Musical.” He is also a member of the early college program “Westfield Promise,” and has already taken three college level courses at Westfield State University.

Andrew Jacob from Southwick Regional School is a member of National Honor Society. He has been involved with numerous volunteer activities, including the Southwick Village Senior Prom, Seniors Helping Seniors, Southwick Regional Tournaments Committee, Powder Mill Buddy Program, volunteering at the elementary school and tutoring underclassmen at the high school. Andrew is also a member of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), where he Planned multiple anti-drunk driving initiatives and Led the creation of this year’s “Stop the Swerve” billboard. Andrew served as class secretary during his sophomore year. He participated in several sports, including volleyball, wrestling, and ice hockey, and for the last two years served as a referee for the USA Ice Hockey Association. He is a lifeguard for the Southwick Town Beach, and has also done volunteer work for his faith community.

Lani, Gina, and Damien are college-bound. Andrew will begin his senior year at Southwick Regional School in the fall.

Scholarships are available to qualifying children ages 5-14 in the Greater Westfield area.

These scholarships are funded by the proceeds of the Westfield Kiwanis Club’s annual “To Serve and Protect Park of Honor,” which recognizes the service of our military members and other uniformed services with a display of U.S. flags on the lawn of Westfield Middle School. The display appears in November between Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.

Scholarship decisions are not based on financial need.  The number of applications received will determine award amounts, and scholarships will be paid directly to the chosen camp program.  Checks cannot be issued directly to the families.

Download a scholarship application by clicking this link. Applications must be sent by postal mail, and must be received (not postmarked) no later than June 12, 2026

Contact Chairperson Kellie Brown at (413) 562-2301 or email kbrown@bgcwestfield.org for additional information.

The Westfield Kiwanis Club provided a new refrigerator-freezer which the pantry will use to store perishable food items.

Supt. of Schools Stefan Czaporowski, a Kiwanis Club member, presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the food pantry Wednesday. Club Vice President Steve Dondley represented the club at the event.

The pantry was initially funded with a $7,500 donation from Stop & Shop Supermarkets.

The elementary school currently has 410 students, with a majority from economically disadvantaged families that are facing daily food insecurity, according to School Principal Jill Phelan, who said there was a significant need for the new food pantry.