A new member of the Kin family will work to fulfill St. Brieux’s greatest need.
The Kin Club of St. Brieux was charted at a gala at the community hall Jan. 11.
Chelsea Godart, the club’s first president, began the process of starting a new club in October 2017.
“I was part of the Melfort Kinettes, actually, and decided that I wanted to bring something like this to my community versus driving to Melfort,” he said.
Godart, along with Angie Stevenson, who would become vice-president, started to talk to Ryan Heavin of the Melfort Kinmens about starting a new club. Godart said Heavin was excited about the idea and helped get the ball rolling.
“We started forming our club in February 2018 and put a call out for members,” Godart said. “[We] had our first meeting as a Kin club in February and had 21 members.”
Once there was proof the St. Brieux community was interested in a Kin club, the next step, said Jordan Kammer, the governor of Saskatchewan’s Kin, is to find a nearby Kin club to sponsor them.
“That sponsor club will then act as a mentor for the newly formed club teach them the history of Kinsmen and Kinettes and provide financial and manpower support,” he said.
It was the Melfort Kinsmen that took up that task.
“Ryan and the Melfort Kinsmen have been awesome to work with and have made this process a lot of fun,” Godart said.
The club started their community activities with a toilet drop, where a toilet is left on somebody's porch and they have to pay to remove it, in the spring. That raised $2,100. In July, they hosted a bingo where the game was played in the car. Those that got a bingo honked their horns. During the holidays, they went door-to-door, singing carols and handing out cookies.
With the charter ceremony complete, the St. Brieux Kin club is fully independent.
“It's really exciting,” Kammer said. “We always love seeing the family of Kin expand. I'm not sure if we've had a club here in St. Brieux or not before, but it's always a great opportunity to get out and support the communities in Saskatchewan.”
The district governor said a chartering a new club is a rare occasion, but with that said, there were two new Kin clubs formed in 2018.
At this point, the St. Brieux Kin has no major community service projects planned.
“We kind of want to start with small projects, as there's lots happening in the town right now, with the manor being built and various other things,” Godart said.
Kammer gave the club this advice:
“Find out what's needed in your community. Ask for help if you need help. There's lots of clubs around St. Brieux, so ask for help.”
Godart said the best part about being part of Kin is the energy the organization has.
“It's such a fun energy that everybody you meet through Kin brings to the room and it's just a lot of fun.”
Those interested in joining the service club can contact the club through its Facebook page.
