MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/4CB45653/EagleandHeros.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Eagles and Heroes

Eagles and Heroes

John Sloan, Executive Director, KI Foundation<= /p>

Sorry, Clint Black, I thought you would be the headliner at Convention. Wow, was I wrong! Clint was there, but he certainly took a backseat to our loyal, dedicated, friendly, and generous Kiwanians. = From around the world they came – board members, governors, lt. governors, district chairs, club officers, men and women Kiwanis members with their families – uniting together in a single mission, to change the world,= one child and one community at a time. Heroes all around.

Our first Elite Eagles were there: Elmer and Bern= yce Austermann from St. Peters, MO and Brian and Miki Cunat, from McHenry, IL. These two couples have gifted Kiwanis International with $1 million endowme= nts; they are the pinnacles of our KIF donors. True eagles and heroes.

We are searching for other donors at this level to ensure the success of our $37 million endowment campaign. We offer donors t= he opportunity to make these leadership gifts that are truly "transformational" in nature. We are also keenly interested in gi= fts to KIF at all levels – every gift makes a difference in the life of a child, or a family, or a community, and we are grateful to each Kiwanian who donates individually or through their club.

Examples of such gifts are those that visited the= KIF booth in San Antonio and wrote checks of $1,000 or more, to honor a special birthday, or a special friend, or just to assist in our mission. A special = gift was presented to KIF President Eddie Callis by Mr. Peter Jaeggi, District C= hair of Switzerland Lichtenstein. His gift of over $53,000 was a combination of individual and club gifts from KIEF. Thank you KIEF. A lovely lady from Manchester MO gave one of our most memorable gifts; a donation of $37 for K= ids with Cancer, in honor of our $37 million campaign. We appreciate and value these gifts of all sizes, and we are grateful to all our donors. Thank you = for caring.

And heroes from around the world were in San Anto= nio. Those that had volunteered during disasters such as Katrina and Rita, count= less tornadoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. And we honored the families of heroes’ Jack Logan and Bert Alexander, our Connelly Award winners who gave their lives to save the lives of two young boys. The sacrifice of these brave, courageous, heroic men are examples of Kiwanians in their finest hou= rs, and their memories will live on and on.

In my opinion, what was so great about Convention= was that these Eagles and heroes were all there together, having fun, doing Kiw= anis business, voting, training, and giving. But most of all, they were enjoying= San Antonio and each other's company. I hope the friendship of these Kiwanians,= and their generous and giving spirit will go with each of them as they return to homes around the world. Hail the Kiwanis spirit.