Chester Kiwanis Club celebrates a half-century dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community at a time

The Kiwanis Club of Chester is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Chartered on Sept. 24, 1974, our club was organized with the help of the Minisink Kiwanis Club. Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world, one child, and one community at a time.

Former Orange County sheriff and Chester Village Police Chief Roger Phillips served as the club’s first president. One of the first projects of Chester Kiwanis was the construction of a skating rink at what is known as the Chester Community Park; members worked on winter nights to flood and smooth the ice on many nights for the enjoyment of the community.

Over the years, the Kiwanis Club of Chester has sponsored the first playground at the Community Park, the Kiwanis Club of Chester 9/11 Memorial, Kids Day, a men’s basketball league, a trip for special needs children to Rye Playground, supported the efforts of the Cerebral Palsy Center in Goshen in many ways and has sent several local children to Kamp Kiwanis in Taberg.

Over the last 23 years, our signature project has been the Chester Kiwanis Toyland project, which provides new toys to families that are not able to make their children’s Christmas joyous.

Throughout the 50 years of the club, there have been various fundraisers: golf outings, citrus sales, Thanksgiving Day roses, clam bakes and a country fair.

None of this would be possible without the generous community of Chester and beyond.

This year we are also celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Chester Kiwanis 5K, our largest fundraiser. Businesses as well as members of the community donate to this event, making it a huge success for our club; runners have numbered up to 500.

The Kiwanis Club of Chester cannot tell you how proud we are to live in a community that supports us so that we, in turn, support the children of our community. We award six scholarships to graduating seniors in the Chester School District, support our K-Kids Club in the elementary school, the Builders Club in the Middle School and the Key Club in the High School.

We continue to support Kamp Kiwanis, run by the Kiwanis NY District of Kiwanis, the Kiwanis NY District Pediatric Lyme Foundation and the Kiwanis International Children’s Fund, Our Fathers cupboard in Monroe, where meals are fed to children, the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, the Chester Community Food Pantry, the Orange County 4-H and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. We also contribute to dinners for kids and the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.

We thank the entire community of Chester and beyond for all of their support over these 50 years. We encourage you to learn more about our club and become a part of a wonderful organization.

The Kiwanis Club of Chester