In 2001, CCMRS and the East Fresno Kiwanis Club created the Charis Aktion Club, which began meeting twice a month in the CCMRS apartments. Aktion Clubs are service leadership clubs sponsored by local Kiwanis International groups in which all the members are adults with disabilities. Many of the members of the Charis Aktion Club came from the CCMRS community, but there were also members with disabilities who did not live in any CCMRS programs.
During its first ten years, the Charis Aktion Club performed many service projects in the community. Some of these included holding Christmas parties for homeless children at the Craycroft Center in Fresno, serving along with other Kiwanis clubs in an annual service project, and donating money to various charities. The club also created the Friendship Park within the Hampton Gate apartments. The club transformed this empty space into a park that includes a sports court, bleachers, trees, and a grassy lawn.
Curious about Aktion Clubs? Visit the official Aktion Club website.
Rachel's Speech
Rachel is a past president of the Charis Community Aktion Club (Fresno, CA). She was selected to deliver a speech at the California-Nevada-Hawai'i District Convention, in August 2011, in San Diego, California. Her topic for the speech was "How Aktion Club made me be a leader in my community."