On Sunday January 22nd three Peninsula High Key Club members completed the refurbishment of ten children’s prosthetic hands at the PVNET Technology Center.
The ten hands will be donated to the Enable Community Foundation. The Foundation distributed the hands both nationally and internationally to needy children.
If you like to request a prosthetic hand for a needy child please click here www.pvnet.com/prosthetic-hand.
On Saturday, December 3rd the Kiwanis Club of Rolling His Estates held their annual Christmas party for the needy children in our community. Fifty children from the Harbor Boys and Girls Club and the Volunteers of America attended the party at the Boys and Girls Club in Harbor City. The children ranged in age from 5 t0 8 years.
In keeping with the Club’s mission of giving a hand up and not a hand out the children started off with making a present for their parents or a friend as a way of giving back for the present that they will be receiving. Two items were constructed, a Christmas bell and a tree ornament.
After handcrafting their presents, the children sat down for a lunch of pizza and fried chicken. Just as they were finishing, Santa Claus arrived with Mrs. Claus and an elf to hand out presents. As each child’s name was called he or she went up to Santa Claus for a gift.
Supporting Santa were ten Key Club and KIWIS from Peninsula High School and thirteen Kiwanians.
On Saturday, October 22nd nineteen young adults from the three local high schools, Peninsula, Palos Verdes and Mary Star, met at the Palos Verdes on the Net (PVNet) Education & Technology Center in the Promenade Mall, Rolling Hills Estates and assembled ten prosthetic hands as a one day Kiwanis project. The students were all members of one of the Kiwanis on campus service clubs, the Key Club or the KIWINS.
The project was developed in an association with the Kiwanis and PVNet, a 22 year old established emerging technology center. PVNet fabricated the parts and provided the facilities for the project.
The prosthetic hands will be donated to Enable Community Foundation who will than distribute the hands to needy children. The Enable Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation created to deploy innovations for people with limb differences.
Each hand required twelve different part types to be fabricated using the 3-D printing technology manufacturing process. To make up one hand a total of thirty one parts were required. This meant that PVNet had to 3D print a total of 310 parts to make up the ten prosthetic hands. PVNet began printing prosthetic hands in 2015 as science project for one of its interns, Eric Chen.
Prior to assembling the parts, Kiwanis members, Herb Stark and Marty Dodell inspected the parts and removed any remaining flashing resulting from the manufacturing process. This was done to insure that each part would fit properly during assembly. The parts for each hand were than kitted and packed into individual kits ready for assembly by students. On the day of the project, ten work spaces, including tools, were setup at PVNet.
Good partnerships such as this create opportunities for youth to gain confidence and experience by contributing positively to society. It also demonstrates not only the need for youth STEM education, but also delivers the opportunity to combine education with community service where the outcome measurably improves the lives of those in need.
In case there is any doubt, just ask Ryan, the 7 year old boy who received one of the PVNet’s prosthetic hands.
Each year the Kiwanis Club of Rolling Hills Estates hosts a children’s school shoe party. This year Project Shoe was held on September 10th at the local Payless Shoe Store in Torrance.
The children are from the local Boys and Girls Club, ranging in age from 5 and 7 years, and come from the low socioeconomic families in our community. Each child is provided with a new pair of school shoes and a backpack filled with school supplies.
This year 89 children participated in the program. After receiving their shoes and backpack the children were entertained with music and dancing. Kiwanis and high school Key club members, along with staff from the local Payless Shoe store, assisted the children in selecting the shoes.
Scholarship application period is now open! Apply through March 29, 2016.The Kiwanis Club of Rolling Hills Estates offers a number of scholarships to deserving high school seniors from the local South Bay area. Scholarship awards are based upon academic achievement, service and personal merit. We hope to reward students who have shown special “heart” in their endeavors. The scholarship application offers a “merit only” option as well as a “merit and financial need” option. In addition to Kiwanis Club Scholarships, other awards are given in honor of outstanding former Kiwanis members. For example, the Cliff Welsh Memorial Award is given for service to the community through Kiwanis sponsored youth programs, including Key Club and KIWINS. To be eligible, a completed application, including all of the required attachments, must be postmarked by the due date for each year.
Click here for information and application.
Fifty children, ages 5 through 7, participated in this year’s annual Christmas party at the Harbor Boys and Girls Club on December 5th.
Each year the Kiwanis Club of Rolling Hills Estates hosts this event for the local children supported by the Key Club and KIWINS from the Peninsula and Palos Verdes High Schools.
The children not only received presents from Santa and Missis Claus but were treated to a lunch of pizza and chicken.
Gift making was a key element of the party to instill in the children, at this early age, that the presents were a help up and not a handout. Each child constructed a gift for their families as part of this program.
Santa this year was played be Ben Carter and Missis Claus was played by Georgette Perez.