Vision

For nearly 100 years, the Kiwanis Club has been an organization of members dedicated to serving children. During that time some 600,000 members in 80 countries, have made a positive impact in millions of lives. The Lakeview Urbandale Kiwanis Club wants to continue to contribute to that Vision locally, by changing children’s lives in increasingly meaningful ways.

One of our most unique resources for doing so, is through the Lakeview Urbandale Kiwanis Club Outdoor Center. This is a fully owned, 60+ acre facility located just south of Battle Creek Michigan. It is a partially wooded, partially prairie property that has remained, to the greatest extent possible, in it’s natural state.

Based on a survey of the members of the Lakeview Urbandale Kiwanis club, their Vision for the use of the Outdoor Center is in complete accord with that of Kiwanis International. We want it to primarily serve and enhance the lives of the children of our community.

 To that end, the following constitutes the Lakeview Urbandale Kiwanis Club’s Vision for the Outdoor Center, adopted May 24, 2017 :

– The Outdoor Center should primarily support Youth and Young Adult Education, Exploration, and Development activities.

 –  Other activities and community groups can be permitted, but will be secondary to our primary focus of Youth and Young Adults.

–  General sports, fitness, and recreation activities are not encouraged.

– The Outdoor Center is open to the walk-in public during the day but overnight camping by groups that are not primarily youth centered is not encouraged. The Outdoor Center is not a public campground.

– Motor vehicle use must be tightly controlled. Motorcycles, Four Wheelers, and Dune Buggies, etc. will not be permitted.

– Commercial or industrial activities such as logging, gardening, etc. will not be permitted.

– Support for profit based businesses will be determined on an individual basis and approval will depend on how they align with our youth leadership development mandate.

– The Outdoor Center should not be used primarily, as a source of revenue for the Lakeview Urbandale Kiwanis Club. Use of Outdoor Center by our primary target audience should be free of charge. Use by others will be fee based and will be approved on an individual basis.

– A separate source of funding must be developed to support the day to day maintenance of the Outdoor Center, as well as the improvements required to maximize its value. This funding must not detract from other ongoing or planned Club Projects.

– The Outdoor Center is currently the right size. There is no need to increase it’s size, but doing so should be considered if sufficient funds are made available for that purpose.

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