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By Ina Beavers

For the Clemmons Courier

August proved to be another busy and fulfilling month for the Kiwanis Club of Clemmons. At the Aug. 1 membership meeting, two members of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office were guest speakers.

Deputy Hollingsworth spoke about the JIIT (Juvenile Intervention and Investigation Team) program they have in place and how vital it is to support young offenders by providing them with positive role models and activities.

They hope building strong mentoring relationships with at-risk juveniles in the community will help prevent repeat offenses and offer guidance away from gang membership. Deputy Culler addressed how the sheriff and police departments support each other and their different roles in the county. He also spoke of some of the other outreach programs they sponsor or support.

West Forsyth High School Key Club Chair Theresa Bryant gave a slideshow presentation of the International Conference held in California this year. Several of the Key Club members attended the conference. The Kiwanis club paid for two of them to attend.

On Aug. 8, member Barbara Schanker assisted with the YMCA’s Bright Beginnings Program. This program assists local children in shopping for items needed to start the school year. Barbara very much enjoyed it and plans to participate again next year.

On Aug. 9, the club enjoyed a social outing to Little Richards in Winston-Salem. Carolina District Lt. Governor Virgil Lassane was in attendance. It was a good time of fellowship and camaraderie.

The monthly highway cleanup was on Aug. 12. Member Thao Sommerville attended the Annual Mid-Carolina Conference in Charlotte this month.

At the Aug. 15 meeting, the speaker was Jeannie Wilson with Read Write Spell. Jeannie spoke about the issues children encounter when they fall behind their grade level in reading. The program offers assistance to students in the area having difficulty with language arts. It is a volunteer organization. She told club members how they could acquire volunteer training to assist with this vital program.

Again this year, the club contributed the needed funds for the faculty and support staff T-shirts at Morgan Elementary. On Aug. 24, members Michael Watson, Jim Brosovic and Ina Beavers attended the Open House at Morgan. They had a wonderful time telling folks about Kiwanis and handing out over 500 bags of free popcorn.

If you would like to join in supporting your community and its children, come to a meeting. All interested are welcome. We meet on the first and third Tuesday at 8 a.m. at Trinity Elms Apartments Community building, 7543 Fair Oaks Drive, just off Harper Road, second drive to the right.

Light breakfast and coffee are available. For more information, email membership chair Ina Beavers at thebeav08@gmail.com.