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Coming Up! District Convention March 28th to March 30th, 2014 Oakland University Circle K and Michigan District Circle K are hosting the annual Dis
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District Convention
March 28th to March 30th, 2014
Oakland University Circle K and Michigan District Circle K are hosting the annual District Convention! This is a fun event to which Circle Kers from all over the district come to spend a weekend doing service, attending workshops, electing the new district board and doing fun social activities like the Governor's Ball! |
Alternative Spring Break
March 1st-March 9th, 2014
Two groups of Circle Kers will conduct volunteering projects for the Alternative Spring Break. The first group, made up of fourteen participants, is going to drive to Lakeland, FL, which is located between Tampa and Orlando. They will be working with Habitat for Humanity to build houses and conduct volunteering projects with local agencies in Florida. Those fourteen participants include Taylor Sullivan, Nicole Potchen, Josh Kurtz, Margi Goelz, David Li, Luke Shenton, Andreea Temelie, Susie Kresge, Bianca Ng, Eugene Kim, Alexa Wutt, Zachery Gizicki, Chiara Kalogjera-Sackellares and Mary Hannosh.
The second group will be heading to Buffalo, NY to work with Westside Ministries, which is a nonprofit organization that focuses on economic development of the westside. Their primary focus is housing rehabilitation. They are going to renovate a church in the local community and also work with local youth at an afterschool program. The trip participants of the second group are Jake Carolan, Matt Johnson, Alyssa Mandilk, Colin McWatta, Karishma Satapathy, Jessie Sahakian, Anna S, Sureel Shah, Megan Rizzo, Eliana Ungar, Breanna Anderson, Dom Dugo, Alex Theuer, and Lina Lu.
Lookout for the next newsletter to read more about the two ASB trips! |
Dance Marathon 2014
Ali Khalid, Public Relations Committee Member and Co-Captain of the Circle K DMUM Team 7E, informs us about Dance Marathon:
Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan is a student run non-profit organization that is dedicated to raising financial support and awareness for the needs of pediatric rehabilitation programs by developing relationships between college students and participating families to raise funds in a creative and energetic manner throughout the year. The money raised from the Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan goes to fund pediatric rehabilitation therapies at Mott and Beaumont Children’s hospitals in Ann Arbor and Royal Oak respectively. There are over a thousand student dancers who all fundraise throughout the year and are split up into separate Pods and within those Pods they are a part of separate teams. This format allows a large organization to have good leadership relations with each and every one of their members making it a rewarding experience for everyone. Each team is paired up with a family who has a child that is impacted by the therapies that this organization raises funds for.
Circle K at the University of Michigan has participated in Dance Marathon before and continued to do so this year. Several members of Circle K make up Team 7E (or Team Hakuna Matata as they liked to be called, going along with their Pod’s Disney theme). The Circle K team has been fundraising through different creative methods throughout the year. They have held multiple bake sales across campus during the day and night. Team members are continuously out bucketing around the city of Ann Arbor no matter what the weather may be; this winter might be cold enough for the University to call a snow day after over 30 years but not cold enough to keep Circle K from raising money for the kids. Other methods through which the Circle K team has raised money were spaghetti dinners, restaurant nights, and by spreading the word to family and friends. Circle K would not be one of the top 10 fundraising teams without the generous contributions of family and friends.
The Circle K team has been paired up with the Proen family this year. The Proens have been a part of Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan for several years and their daughter Katina has benefited from the therapies that are supported by the money raised by this organization. Katina and her siblings, Ben and Sofia, are wonderful bursts of energy and the Circle K team has gotten close with them and the whole family through the many bonding events that Dance Marathon has held over the year. From pumpkin carving around Halloween to a pajama party in the winter, the Circle K team has been very fortunate to be able to work and socialize with such a wonderful family.
The excitement levels are high at the Dance Marathon meetings for the Circle K team nowadays seeing as the actual Marathon is fast approaching. On February 15th the actual Dance Marathon will occur where the dancers come together in the Indoor Track and Field Building to stand for 30 hours. This event is a great way to wrap up an exciting year of fundraising and fun. Standing for 30 hours demonstrates the perseverance and determination of the kids who overcome physical and mental challenges everyday living with their disability. These 30 hours will be filled with a wide array of activities that the dancers can partake in with their family and with their fellow dancers. Standing for 30 hours may be a challenge for some but is no match for Team Hakuna Matata. |
Jake Carolan, Public Relations Chair and Co-Captain of the Circle K DMUM Team 7E, writes of his experience:
My experience as Co-Captain of the Circle K Dance Marathon team has been rewarding in a myriad of ways. While Dance Marathon's mission is to support pediatric rehabilitation programs at Mott and Beaumont hospitals, I and the rest of the members of our team have undergone tremendous bonding experiences in the pursuit of helping children in need. We have developed both our friendships and leadership skills at team meetings where we both brainstorm for and plan for fundraising in addition to other logistics. We have also been able to get to know each other better than we would have just through Circle K through socials and family events we have together. As Co-Captain I have had the opportunity to see very personally the amazing things my fellow Circle K members can accomplish, and I am inspired by their dedication! |
Circle K Service Day
Noverber 16th-17th, 2014
Wisam Berry, Immediate Past Secretary, shares his experience:
CKSD 2013, or my first Circle K Service Day as an alumnus of the University of Michigan, was one of the best Service Day’s I have ever been to! This was one of my favorite events to attend while a student and I made it a goal to be able to come back to the University to attend and support an organization that gave me so much during my time at Michigan. When I decided on coming back for Service Day I had to figure out what project I was going to do and get other Alumni to come out and volunteer. I also had to make sure I made time to stop by the Ginsberg Center because no Service Day is complete without that (and putting money in to Pie a Leadership Team member). As for volunteering at Service Day, I had the opportunity to attend a Habitat for Humanity build in Ann Arbor with fellow alumni, which was awesome because I worked with Habitat for Humanity for one of my Alternative Spring Break trips with Circle K. It was a great way for me to connect with friends, remember my time at our Alternative Spring Break working on a house, and volunteer with a great organization that does meaningful work in our community. After a day of working on the house, and getting a lot of paint on me, we were able to have dinner with other Alumni who were working/studying in the area and volunteering for Service Day. After such a welcoming day of being back in Ann Arbor and volunteering with Circle K on Service Day I know I can’t wait for future Service Day’s and my excuse to run back to A2 and do service. |
CKSD Pieing
Vishaal Kalwani, Technology Chair, shares his experience of being pied at Service Day:
One of the highlights of my junior year was shivering in the cold, midnight air, shirtless, and covered head to waist in whipped cream as a crowd of people around me snapped photo after photo as I desperately tried (and failed) to wipe the sugar out of my eyes. I’m thankful to say I was one of the lucky few to get pied at Circle K’s Annual Service Day. The road to getting pied was different for me than most; rather than try to prevent it, I somewhat controversially openly campaigned to be pied, delivering convoluted stories at general meetings and adopting a persona not unlike a “used car salesman” in an attempt to get people to donate to my causes. The day of the event, I started in the lead, dropped off the leaderboard, and thanks to the generosity of some friends, pulled back onto the leaderboard in fourth place, donning my plastic trash bag (later discarded by popular vote) with eagerness as the paper plates of whipped cream were placed around me in a weirdly ritualistic way. Despite the cold, the blurry eyes, and the overwhelming stickiness that transformed into starchiness of the t-shirt I put on afterward, pieing was a fantastic experience. I was surrounded by people I’m proud to call my friends, all sharing in a moment with me after 16 hours of community service (with 8 more to go), and I got to return the favor to some them afterwards, resulting in some fantastic photos and some even better memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. Overall, I give the experience 10/10, A+, would get pied again, would recommend to friends. |
Ski Social
January 18th, 2014
Eugene Kim, Public Relations Committee Member, writes of his time at the social:
Outside of service, the Ski Social was one of the best experiences I’ve had in Circle K. Nine other Circle K members and I went to Bellaire, Michigan to spend the weekend together getting to know each other, eating delicious food, skiing and tubing. I personally don’t know how to ski but luckily there was a tubing alternative for us non-skiers. I’d have to say that it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. At night, we would all stay up playing card games, watching hilarious movies, and laughing until we were on the verge of passing out.
Although all the outdoor activities and games we played were a lot of fun, the thing that I’ll treasure the most is the friendships that I’ve formed with the people I went with. It’s socials like these that allow fellow volunteers to get to know each other on a deeper level and more effectively communicate with each other when volunteering and serving the community. |
We’ve really be working hard this year to increase our alumni appreciation and contact with YOU! Let us know what we can continue to do to keep this friendship going by contacting Aroosa at aroosamm@umich.edu with any and all ideas.
We are in the process of creating an alumni recognition page on the Circle K Website. If you would like to be featured on the Circle K Website as an alum, please contact Aroosa at the above e-mail address. |
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