Circle K International, a club at Sacramento State, was awarded as the third recipient of the “Hornets in the Community” Award for volunteer services the members provided to the local Sacramento community.

CKI was awarded the “Hornets in the Community” Award for volunteering over 100 hours of community service throughout Sacramento this semester.

Sac State’s Student Activities and Wells Fargo Bank have collaborated to recognize student-run organizations who give back to the community with “Hornet in the Community” awards.

The latest award was presented Nov. 7 to CKI at Sac State’s women’s volleyball game.

CKI is a student-based club that provides community service to local organizations. CKI focuses on fostering compassion and goodwill towards others and creating leadership and fellowship among its members.

The award of $1,000 from Wells Fargo Bank was addressed to Starlight Children’s Foundation in Northern California, a nonprofit organization that CKI has been raising funds for throughout the semester.

Starlight Children’s Foundation creates programs that educate, entertain and inspire ill children.

Victor Chan, CKI president, said the club chose to give the award money to the Starlight Children’s Foundation because it is one of the club’s district fundraising initiatives.

“It feels wonderful knowing that our members can really feel like they have really accomplished something because the money that we have won is going towards a great cause,” Chan said.

Erica Ryan, senior liberal studies major and CKI social chair, said the group is extremely busy with volunteer work and is happy to be awarded the “Hornets in the Community” award.

“We do a lot of community service hours and we are just happy that our fundraising gets recognized. Starlight is a brand new fundraiser this year, so we are really excited,” Ryan said.

The CKI Club was not only recognized for its support of Starlight Children’s Foundation, but also for volunteering over 100 hours this semester to Shriner’s Hospital, Pioneer House, and St. Philomene’s Church.

“We focus on community service, developing leadership skills, and also providing fellowship opportunities to our members. As a group, we average 250 to 300 community service hours a month,” Chan said.

Chan said CKI members volunteer at St. Philomene’s Soup Kitchen every other Tuesday and at Shriner’s Hospital twice a month to do arts and crafts with the children.

“We just spend a couple hours with the kids to get their minds off the hardships they are going through,” Chan said.

CKI also volunteers at the Pioneer House, an assisted-living home for senior citizens.Calvin Hara, facility administrator of the Pioneer House, said CKI has been graciously volunteering for nearly a year.

Hara said CKI introduced the facility’s senior citizens to Wii Bowling, a virtual Nintendo game that replicates the active capabilities of bowling through a hand-held wireless controller.

Hara said the seniors look forward to having students spend time with them playing Wii Bowling. CKI also engages in gardening and planting for the Pioneer House’s residents.”Circle K is a great, enthusiastic group. They are kind and have great compassion for seniors,” Hara said.

According to CKI’s mission statement, CKI is the largest collegiate community service, leadership development and friendship organization in the world. CKI has a membership of more than 11,000 students on more than 500 campuses worldwide. Chan said Sac State’s CKI works with other surrounding CKI clubs in California, Nevada and Hawaii.

“My favorite part is seeing all our members going out there and giving back to the community while having fun at the same time. Sometimes volunteering takes a lot out of you. It’s quite labor intensive,” Chan said. “But in our club, we not only go out there and get a lot of work done, but we enjoy ourselves at the same time.”

Ryan describes CKI as a close-knit group. He said that the club of 50 members has formed some very strong relationships by doing service work.

Chan said the club has a close connection because CKI works towards creating a sense of fellowship among its members.

“We have a lot of fellowship events where we get together and we can bond with the club. We have socials where we get together and go to places like Golfland Sunsplash and the Jelly Belly Factory,” Chan said.

Chan said that CKI strives to help develop leadership skills for members.

“We provide a lot of opportunities for our members to step up and get involved with helping us run the club, whether it’s through fundraising, designing a website, writing newsletters, or creating a scrapbook to document events,” Chan said.

CKI wants to start organizing events on its own and is currently planning a canned food drive for the upcoming holiday season.

“We have been going to a lot of other people’s events and volunteering, but I want to start organizing events that will directly give back to the community,” Chan said.

Miranda Marsalla can be reached at [email protected]