Our Proud History…

The Kiwanis Club of Reisterstown was chartered in August 23, 1935 with 52 charter members many of whom owned or worked for businesses in Reisterstown. Reisterstown was a striving community and these 52 men wanted to serve the youth, the elderly and where ever there was a need in the community.

By 1938 the club was firmly established in the community with a growing membership and a list of service projects that were helping the community. They raised money to help pay for school lunches, they conducted Christmas parties, the first had over 223 children. They sponsored a baseball team in the Kiwanis League. With agriculture being a large part of the community, they purchased several pigs and then donated them to young boys to learn how to raise and sell them. When WWII came, the club created a Honor Roll of Reisterstown men in the service and dedicated it to the community with a band, parade and speeches. Then they organized a scrap iron drive to help the national effort to beat the axis powers.

Then in 1945 they embarked on a project to purchase a new ambulance for the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company. It took three years before they were able to have delivery of the ambulance in 1948. One of the club’s long continuing projects was to build a athletic field for the Franklin High School. It begun construction in 1956 and was dedicated in 1958. It was a community hit and was constantly in use for years. Then in the 1980’s the lights needed to be renewed and the club followed through on that need too.

When Kiwanis established the Key Club program in the early 1980’s, the Reisterstown Club responded in building the Franklin High School Key Club which is still a major club activity with Franklin High School. The club added another Key Club in the Owings Mills High School in 2008. About this time the Builder’s Club was established in the Franklin Middle School giving kids the opportunity to learn leadership, and serving their community.

The Terrific Kids program began in the last 1980’s too and the Reisterstown Kiwanis Club responded and worked to establish this incentive type program in eleven elementary schools in Reisterstown, Owings Mills, Glyndon, Deer Park and Randallstown.

Throughout the history of the Kiwanis Club of Reisterstown, giving to those in need especially at Christmas time was standard event. Purchasing food for a Christmas Dinner and wrapped presents of toys, books and puzzles for several families was a highlight of that season.

Giving and helping others in need has always been the hallmark of this club from its beginning and still is to this day. Our Motto from day one -“We Build” is still how we perform. A more modern description is “Kiwanis is an organization of volunteers dedicate to improving the world, one child and one community at a time.”