About Children’s Success Initiative Marietta
CSI Marietta is our strategic framework for fundraising and giving.
- Its objective is to continue to support children with a focus on removing impediments and barriers to learning.
- It is one of the ways our Club supports the Kiwanis Mission of “improving the world one child and one community at a time.”
Projects within the CSI Marietta framework should:
- Focus on children’s well-being.
- Be viewed as something major.
- Leverage resources through collaboration.
- Capitalize on intellectual and influence capabilities.
- Promote the Kiwanis brand.
- Energize membership.
Two-pronged approach for execution:
- President’s Major Initiative if one is chosen.
- Participation in and support of the MCC Charity Golf Tournament. This includes our Club President and President-elect helping to select the charity beneficiary and financial support. This event raises well over $100,000 annually, and our involvement is an excellent example of leveraging resources through collaboration along with the other points noted above.
Projects:
We’ve had some great projects and involvement over the years, many of which continue to this day.
These include direct support for:
- MHS Technology Center
- Financial and Nutritional Literacy (Kiwanis Good Vibes Café, Food Pantries, Exercise Carts in Marietta City Schools, Financial Mentoring Seminars)
- Reading Oasis Projects
- Laundromat Libraries
- Marietta Police Athletic League
- Citizenship Medals and US Constitutions
- MHS Student Success Center
- KSU CARES (Campus Awareness, Resource, & Empowerment Services)
- Center for Children and Young Adults
- Kidz2Leaders
- Barney, MPD’s Crisis K9
- Comfort Corners and Room and Lockheed Elementary
- Marietta Mentoring for Leadership
- Friendship Formal for Marietta Middle and High School students through the Best Buddies Club
Our major fundraising efforts in support of CSI Marietta are our Night Golf Event and our Hearts for Kids Auction supplemented with member giving campaigns as needed. These events were once again extremely successful in 2025, raising approximately $25,000.
How did we get here?
Back in the day, we’d get to the end of a Kiwanis year and distribute excess money to various local charities. While these distributions were well-intentioned, they were really without any framework or focus.
In Oct. 2010 then Club President Mike Hebdon and the Board of Directors asked Club members Mack Henderson, Tom Conkright, and Vance Booker to develop a strategic plan for our Club.
We’re already the Greatest Club in the Universe, so why change?
Since we ARE a great club, we should strive for continuous improvement.
The strategic plan process began in 2011. The current state of the Club was analyzed. A formal survey, interviews, and focus groups were conducted within our Club.
As a result of this, we determined to focus our efforts on larger, higher impact projects that could be multi-year in nature. Let’s leverage our connections and influence capabilities to reach more children and do bigger things!
The first such project was the Kiwanis Technology Center at MHS. That project was designed to raise academic performance and improve college/career readiness of students by closing the “digital divide.”
Through the Tech Center at MHS, we saw the opportunity to expand our focus to include literacy in all its forms and merged our efforts with the Marietta City Schools Graduate Marietta initiative. We created a Major Emphasis Framework with Graduate Marietta at the center and the various forms of literacy surrounding that.
Graduate Marietta had a great 10-year run from 2012-2022 when we did a refresh to rename it Children’s Success Initiative, CSI Marietta, which continues now. Donations total over $340,000 and counting!
Donations are made through the Marietta Kiwanis Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
As a result of this, we determined to focus our efforts on larger, higher impact projects that could be multi-year in nature. Let’s leverage our connections and influence capabilities to reach more children and do bigger things!
The first such project was the Kiwanis Technology Center at MHS. That project was designed to raise academic performance and improve college/career readiness of students by closing the “digital divide.”
Through the Tech Center at MHS, we saw the opportunity to expand our focus to include literacy in all its forms and merged our efforts with the Marietta City Schools Graduate Marietta initiative. We created a Major Emphasis Framework with Graduate Marietta at the center and the various forms of literacy surrounding that.
Graduate Marietta had a great 10-year run from 2012-2022 when we did a refresh to rename it Children’s Success Initiative, CSI Marietta, which continues now. Donations total over $340,000 and counting!
Donations are made through the Marietta Kiwanis Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit.