Donations to Kiwanis Bring Happiness to Others

The Kiwanis Club of Vero – Treasure Coast, through Club member Martin Gonzalez, recently received a generous donation of over $10,000 in new toys, suits, clothing, shoes, school uniforms, bed sheets, and books from the Carl Shechter Southwest Focal Point Community Center. Jay Shechter, Pembroke Pines Community Services Director, said “Our city has adopted Fellsmere as a sister city through the work of your local Kiwanis Club at the Fellsmere Elementary School.”

 To receive the donated items, Kiwanis needed to pick up the merchandise in South Florida, then distribute them to local charities based on need.

On July 1, Club members Martin Gonzalez, Al Sammartino, Mark Sammartino, and Doug Vitunac, met to discuss the logistics of picking up and distributing the donations. They determined that a truck was needed, so the Club approved a budget of $550. Martin, Al, Mark and Doug each contacted local charities to determine which ones had a need for the donated items. They were not to be resold, only distributed directly to their clients.

On July 11, Al Sammartino and his son, Mark, drove a rental truck to South Florida and picked up the donations. Upon returning, Al, Martin and Club member Tim Wright sorted the merchandise based on the participating local charities’ needs. On August 1, the merchandise was delivered as follows:

The ARC 

  • 5 sets of clothing in various sizes
  • Sheets all sizes
  • Books basic reading

Every Child Counts 

Bed Sheets – twin and full size

United Against Poverty 

  • Suits
  • Clothing

Indian River County Jail 

  • Suits
  • Clothing
  • Shoes
  • Books

Hope for Families Center 

  • Clothing
  • Books

Fellsmere Elementary School 

  • Toys and games
  • School Uniforms
  • 5 sets of men’s and women’s clothing for parents that lost their home in a fire

This is just another example of how The Kiwanis Club of Vero – Treasure Coast helps those in need here in Indian River County.  To learn more about Kiwanis, please visit our website at www.verokiwanis.com.

Martin Gonzalez

Al Sammartino and Gonzalez 

Al and Mark Sammartino

Dedication at its Best

Important historic buildings are known to have what is called a “cornerstone” which refers to laying the initial base for a strong foundation.  Well, the Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast has someone that truly fits the definition of the club’s cornerstone. 

Bob Marshbanks joined Kiwanis in January 1978 shortly after he opened his business called The Pipe Den in September 1977.  Bob was invited to join Kiwanis by then club president Gene Waddell.  Kiwanis met in the early mornings, which did not hinder the opening of his new store.  Bob’s business was open six days a week and he wanted to do something that could support the mission of Kiwanis and fit into his busy workweek.  So, he volunteered to serve as club secretary. 

To this day Bob still holds that important position.  What is even more impressive is that since joining Kiwanis in 1978 Bob has never missed a meeting – that is 47 years of perfect attendance!  Even when he has traveled within the United States or abroad, Bob finds a Kiwanis club (there are more than 7,000 clubs in 85 countries) and attends their meetings.

Bob thinks back to one of his favorite projects with Kiwanis.  The club raised funds to build bike paths close to schools.  Kiwanis built 16 miles of bike paths around Vero Beach in five years.  

Like Bob, Kiwanis has many dedicated members with long association to volunteer work.  The Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast was founded in 1973.  The club raises funds through many projects to provide financial assistance and manpower for those organizations that serve children.  For over five decades, Kiwanis has been tirelessly working to create positive impacts for the youth of Indian River County. Through initiatives like Youth in Action projects, volunteer programs in Indian River County Schools (Key Club, Builders Club, and K-Club) and the Scholarship Golf Day, the club continues to raise vital funds that directly benefit children’s education, health, and well-being.

We welcome new members and encourage you visiting the Kiwanis website at www.verokiwanis.com for more information.  We meet every Wednesday at noon at The Vero Beach Yacht Club. 

Bob Marshbanks, Kiwanis Club Secretary

Another Great Kiwanis Golf Tournament

Vero Beach, FL – The Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast held its annual Charity Golf Day at Sandridge Golf Club on Saturday, April 6th, drawing in 58 enthusiastic golfers and receiving overwhelming support from over 100 local sponsors. The event, now in its 38th year, not only showcased the community’s love for golf but also demonstrated its commitment to supporting local children in a number of ways, including the college scholarships that the proceeds from the day funded.  The scholarship winners were chosen based on their academic achievements, as well as their commitment to volunteering in the community.

For over five decades, the Kiwanis Club in Vero Beach has been tirelessly working to create positive impacts for the youth of Indian River County. Through initiatives like Youth in Action projects, volunteer programs in IRC schools (Key Club, Builders Club) and the Scholarship Golf Day, the club continues to raise vital funds that directly benefit children’s education, health, and well-being. 


For over 100 years, Kiwanis International has been an organization of members dedicated to serving children. Today, there are nearly 600,000 members in 80 countries, and members have made a positive impact in millions of lives.  Kiwanis International was founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan, and became an international organization with the creation of the Kiwanis Club of Hamilton, Ontario, the following year.  Kiwanis members stage nearly 150,000 service projects, devote more than 6 million hours of service, and raise nearly $100 million every year for communities, families and projects.

For more information on Kiwanis visit Kiwanis International at www.kiwanis.org

The Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast was founded in 1973.  Our club raises funds through many projects to provide financial assistance and manpower for those organizations that serve children.  Examples of Kiwanis projects that have helped the local area include:

  • Construction of the building foundations for ARC and Riverside Children’s Theatre and the outdoor stage at Riverside Theatre
  • Bicycle paths for local schools
  • Assistance with the Annual Children’s Art Festival in Vero Beach
  • The Annual Kiwanis Radio and Television Auction to secure funds to help children
  • Volunteer work for Youth Guidance
  • Construction of the Head Start Playground
  • Construction of pavilions at Hibiscus
  • Children’s Center and the Homeless Family Center
  • The Annual Take a Kid Fishing Tournament est. 1992 serving over 300 children annually
  • Painting homes for needy families through the Youth in Action Program

The Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast held its 50th Anniversary Celebration on October 25 and it was a smashing success. Taking up two large meeting rooms at the Vero Beach Yacht Club, more than 100 current and former Kiwanians with spouses, school advisors and guests gathered to first enjoy the social hour, where we renewed friendships and, in many cases, met for the first time, six of the earliest club members. That included charter members Sam Block, Gene Waddell, and first Kiwanis president, Bob Grice.

Past presidents attending the Banquet included Bob Grice ( 1973-74), Sam Block (1975-76), Karl Zimmermann (1976-77), Gene Waddell (1977-78), Dean Luethje (1978-79), Tom Dickens (1987-88), Jeff Meyer (1992-93 and 2011-12), Randy Riley (1993-94 and Lt. Governor 1994-95)), Milt Thomas (1996-97 and 2008-09), Adam Bolinger (2000-01), Lou Aprile (2001-02 and 2009-10), Paul Williamson (2002-03), Kevin Brown (2013-14 and 2016-17), Richard Schlitt (2017-18 and Lt. Governor 2018-19), Tom Maher (2019-20), Al Sammartino (2020-21 and two terms as Lt. Governor), Doug Vitunac (2021-22 and 2022-23).

The meeting was brought to order by outgoing president, Doug Vitunac, with a prayer and pledge offered by long-time club Spiritual Aims Chairman, Rev. Michael Ward. A unique and well-received buffet dinner followed, featuring five food stations, each representing a different ethnic cuisine and dessert – Mediterranean, French, Italian, Mexican and Asian.

​The program followed, beginning with a presentation of highlights from our club’s history presented by Milt Thomas. A more detailed history was included as part of the Banquet’s printed program and is reproduced below. A short video was then shown about current Kiwanis community projects. Al Sammartino then gave a presentation about the club’s youth-oriented community activities including Kiwanis Youth in Action, school, and scholarship programs.

Doug Vitunac returned to the podium to present this year’s awards: “Hit the Ground Running”award to members who went above and beyond – Martin Gonzalez, Cindi Shelbourne, Mark Sammartino, Jessica Hernstadt; “Perfect Attendance” award – Bob Marshbanks (for the 45th years in a row); “Key Member” award – Milt Thomas; “Kiwanian of the Year” award – Bill Cala.

Doug then introduced Prairy Riehl, Florida Kiwanis Governor, to install our new officers and directors for 2023-24, including new president, Jessica Hernstadt, who then gave her vision for the year ahead.

With business completed, Jessica introduced our entertainer for the evening, Impressionist Anna Faris. Faris came onstage as Joan Rivers, then moved on to comedic impression of several entertainers that involved costume changes, members of the audience and lots of laughter to finish off our 50th Anniversary Celebration.


The Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast was sponsored on September 17, 1973, by the existing Kiwanis Club of Vero Beach, founded in 1935. Many younger members of the senior club were starting out in business and found it a hardship to attend weekly noon meetings that often lasted well beyond lunchtime. So, Bob Grice recommended, and the club agreed, to start a morning club meeting on Tuesdays from 7:30- 8:30am. Twenty-one members agreed to join the new Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast.

One of our first major fundraising projects was a joint effort with the senior club to conduct the Kiwanis Christmas Radio Auction. It transitioned to a TV auction in the 1990s and involved nearly every member of both clubs calling on businesses for merchandise or cash donations, setting up a television studio with a bank of telephone operators, on-screen interviews, and performances. Money raised from the auction sponsored creation of what is now the Riverside Children’s Theatre. We did the same for ARC of Indian River County.

Our Club also sponsored the Children’s Art Festival for many years, SafeSpace, Youth Guidance, and many other worthwhile projects.  Club members also performed hands-on work projects, including construction of pavilions, docks, handicap ramps, creating bike paths and more. Those community efforts led to the creation of Kiwanis Youth in Action, started by members Al Sammartino and Richard Schlitt. KYIA provided adult-supervised teenage volunteers for Saturday projects including painting and repairs for disadvantaged people’s homes or non-profits needing assistance, gardening, beach, and spoil island clean-ups.

We have always been active in the School District of Indian River County, starting with conducting practice job interviews. That led to our adoption of the Junior Achievement program, providing high school seniors with an education in the private enterprise system. Our Club raised funds for the high school to purchase textbooks and teaching materials as well as providing “visiting professors,” Club members who would share our business experiences with the students. This became a required program for senior students.   We also started the first Key Club at St. Edward’s School, later at the Indian River County Charter High School and Vero Beach High School, where they thrive today, teaching students the value of community service.

Submitted by Milt Thomas

Kiwanis seeks major sponsors for the Kiwanis Youth in Action Program.


For Kiwanis Youth in Action application for Home Repair Assistance



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