Published in the Sept. 30 – Oct. 13, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Trina Ciraulo at the Kiwanis tent.
For more than 60 years, the Morgan Hill Kiwanis Club has been active as a service organization, most widely recognized as organizing the Holiday Lights Parade, but also hanging flags and banners downtown, maintaining and installation of the holiday snowflakes, the annual senior breakfast, support for Cecelia’s Closet, and providing scholarships for high school seniors heading to college.
Club president Trina Ciraulo focuses on continuing the tradition, and encourages Morgan Hill residents to help support the club’s activities by attending the 14th annual All-You-Can-Eat Cioppino Feed Saturday Oct. 24 at the Morgan Hill Buddhist Community Center.
Morgan Hill Life asked Ciraulo about the 31-member club and why she’s active in it.
The Morgan Hill Kiwanis are very involved with the community such as the Holiday Lights Parade and scholarships for students. Why do members stay so active?
The Kiwanis club members are very busy like-minded people who enjoy the camaraderie of working together to improve the lives of children and our community. Being part of Kiwanis gives us the opportunity to have a connection to the community outside of our professional lives and is as important as the work we do for the community. There is a great sense of fellowship among our club, and we truly enjoy each other’s company which makes the work that we do a fun and enjoyable experience.
Describe the history of the Kiwanis club in Morgan Hill?
In 1952, several local men were contacted by the Exchange Club International to start a club in Morgan Hill. Before receiving their charter, it was learned that the Exchange Club would not accept as a member an American of Asian descent. The local members had presented for membership Paul Yokoi, a World War II veteran of Japanese descent. This man was so loved and respected by the other members that they turned down the proposal by the Exchange Club. Instead, they approached Kiwanis, and more particularly, the Kiwanis Club of Gilroy, which became the sponsoring club for the Kiwanis Club of Morgan Hill. Paul Yokoi was elected to the first board of directors.
One of the fun events the Kiwanis puts on for the past 14 years is the Cioppino Feed. Describe this fun foodie event and why you encourage people to attend.
The Cioppino Feed is our largest annual fundraising event. It continues to grow in popularity, so much so that this year we have moved it to a much larger venue. This year the event will be at the Morgan Hill Buddhist Community Center. The cioppino ingredients are purchased from “Phil’s Fish Market” in Moss Landing which was named the “Best Seafood Place in the World” by the BBC in 2013. The cioppino is prepared on site by our members who also prepare the salad, pasta, garlic bread and dessert.
What makes you proud to be a Morgan Hill Kiwanis club members and how do you lead the club as its president?
I feel a pride and sense of giving back to community through the Kiwanis. Kiwanis International is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary. It is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. Today Kiwanis and Kiwanis-affiliated groups donate more than 18 million hours of service each year and raise more than $100 million in charitable funds annually. We tackle projects of every size and difficulty, from building neighborhood. As club president, I plan to continue to build our club’s membership. The more members we have the more we can accomplish as a team. I am also looking to find new opportunities for our club to raise money and identify additional areas in which our club can offer our service and support to our community.
The Kiwanis Club is involved with schools. Why does the club care about students so much?
Children are our future. So many scholarships are given to local students who are truly exceptional scholars. The Turnaround Scholarships we offer to Central — as well as Live Oak and Ann Sobrato — students offer encouragement to those who might not have the support to consider college and who don’t have 4.0+ GPA’s but deserve a push in the right direction. During this past year, we provided scholarships to six students. The funds we raise from the Cioppino Feed and our Friday Night Music Series hotdog sales help support these scholarships.
