Kiwanis Club Seeks Charter Members

The Kiwanis clubs of Woodland Hills and Warner Center are organizing a new branch in Calabasas.

It will be the ninth unit in the nonprofit service organization’s 25th district, which covers the mid- and west San Fernando Valley.

“I think the reason we identified Calabasas as a good location for a new club is . . . Calabasas seems to have a greater sense of community than some of the other communities in the San Fernando Valley,” said Linda Fermoyle Rice, a member of the Warner Center Kiwanis Club and the district’s incoming lieutenant governor.

Rice and other Kiwanis members approached the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce to see whether community leaders would be receptive to the idea. After receiving a warm welcome, Rice said, organizers began meeting last week to start the new club.

Kiwanis is an international, nondenominational service organization that prides itself on its hands-on ability to quickly address local needs.

“Although the West Valley is generally identified as being relatively affluent, and it certainly is overall, there’s still a need that goes unrecognized because we overlook it,” Rice said.

Ronald Clary, a Woodland Hills member who is helping with the start-up, agrees.

“If one member hears about a need, they can just take that to the club and we can, in essence, develop a project around the need,” he said.

Rice said the new group would be the westernmost club in her district, well situated to draw people from Agoura and Agoura Hills.

The group is seeking charter members. Organizers meet Wednesdays at noon at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center, 23400 Park Sorrento in Calabasas. For more information, call Clary at (818) 703-8566.