UCLA’s chapter of Circle K International (CKI) attended the 64th Annual Circle K International California-Nevada-Hawaii District Convention in Los Angeles, California on March 23-25, 2018 where the club was recognized in outstanding achievements, placing in five competitive categories with a total of 13 award acknowledgements and two scholarship recipients. With 231 members, the chapter raised almost $17,000 for various charities and volunteered over 8,500 service hours this past year.
The UCLA Chapter was awarded Distinguished Club, First Place in Total Funds Raised for Independent Charities, Second Place in Outstanding Total Achievement in the Gold Division (chapters with more than 90 members), Third Place in Totals Funds Raised for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and Third Place in Outstanding Mei Po Wong Overall Service in the Gold Division (chapters with more than 90 members). UCLA has been recognized in club achievement at the district and international levels in previous years as well.
In addition to the club’s overall achievements, the following committee-related awards were presented: Distinguished Member Development & Education to Alex Levine, Leonna Tong, Jeremy Figueroa, Serena Zhang, Ethan Chee, and Danny Vu and Distinguished Appointed Board to Kevin Nguyen and Vivian Wong.
The chapter’s elected board was awarded with Distinguished Awards for Administrative Vice President (Calvin Ly), Secretary (Sharlene Lim), and Treasurer (Molyka Seang). Lim also received an award for her punctual submission of club Monthly Report Forms. In addition, Braden Lem received an Honorable Mention in Outstanding Website Design and Vivian Wong received Second Place in Outstanding Single Service Project for her work as the Large-Scale Service Chair.
"I have attended District Convention for the past three years, and each time has been a memorable experience and an opportunity to reflect and bond as a club,” said Khoa Vinh, 2018-2019 President. “District Convention is a time for celebration, not only for UCLA CKI, but for the entire district of California-Nevada-Hawaii Circle K. This year, at DCON, UCLA was recognized for 14 different awards. This achievement would not have been possible without the passion and dedication of my fellow members. Over the past year, I, as President, have been able to witness my peers pour countless hours into our goal of helping the community. It brings me such great joy to see my fellow members be acknowledged for their hard work. Nevertheless, an award is ultimately just a piece of paper; it does not define who we are and the impact that we have made. Regardless of whether or not an award was received for any particular category, the members of UCLA CKI have accomplished so much over this past year, and I am so grateful to have been able to serve them as their President. "
Circle K International is the largest collegiate service organization in the world, with more than 13,000 members in 17 countries. Chartered in 1974, the UCLA chapter falls into the California-Nevada-Hawaii district of the organization, where more than 3200 members serve the community and raise funds for charities.
Submitted by Ethan Vuong, Circle K International at UCLA 2018-2019 Media Relations Chair
