UCLA’s chapter of Circle K International (CKI) attended the 65th Annual Circle K International California-Nevada-Hawaii District Convention in Los Angeles, California on March 22-24, 2019, where the club was recognized in outstanding achievements, placing in five competitive categories with a total of 16 award acknowledgements. With 159 members, the chapter raised over $11,000 for various charities and volunteered over 8,100 service hours this past year.
The UCLA Chapter received the Camille Goulet Distinguished Club Award, First Place in Mei Po Wong Overall Service in the Platinum Division (chapters with more than 110 members), Second Place in Outstanding Total Achievement in the Platinum Division, Second Place in Total Funds Raised for Independent Charities, and Third Place in Totals Funds Raised for the Pediatric Trauma Program. 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: John Woodall Distinguished Membership Development and Education Award to Ethan Vuong, Christina Kieu, Amir Patel, Deborah Bor, Belen Bravo, and Jeffrey Lin, Don Hall Distinguished Kiwanis Family Relations Award to Belen Bravo and Leslie Adame, and Distinguished Appointed Board Award to Kylee Lyons, Gina Apinyavat, Kevin Ru, Belen Bravo, Leslie Adame, Christopher Lam, Amir Patel, and Jeffrey Lin.
The chapter’s elected board was awarded with Distinguished Awards for President (Jeremy Figueroa), Administrative Vice President (Angeli Indran), and Secretary (Braden Lem). Lem also received an award for his punctual submission of club Monthly Report Forms. In addition, Kevin Ru received the Outstanding District Committee Member Award. Gina Apinyavat and Kylee Lyons received the First and Second Place in Outstanding Total Service Hours, respectively. Apinyavat also received Second Place in Outstanding Single Service Project for her work as the Large-Scale Service Chair, while Chris Lam received Third Place in Outstanding Club Website for his work as the Technology Chair.
“I have attended District Convention for the past 3 years and each year is even greater than the last, being an amazing opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of the club,” said Jeremy Figueroa, the 2018-2019 President. “District Convention is a time of celebration, for both UCLA CKI and the California-Nevada-Hawaii District as a whole. At this year's DCON, UCLA was fortunate enough to earn awards of 16 different categories. This feat would not have been possible without the dedication and passion of our membership towards our organization. This past year, I, as club President, have bared witness to my peers pouring countless hours into helping our community at large. Seeing these individuals be recognized for their hard work is a massive honor. Regardless, awards are merely titles; they do not define who we are as people nor the impact of our work. Regardless of whether an award was given for a particular category, the members of UCLA CKI have accomplished so much this past term. I am honored and privileged to have been able to serve these individuals as 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.
For more information on UCLA CKI, please visit http://uclacki.org.
Submitted by Blaire Yu, Circle K International at UCLA
