Members of the Levittown Kiwanis Club gathered last Saturday morning to assemble Thanksgiving food baskets for families in the community. With donations from generous residents, the club was able to prepare 10 baskets to help make the holiday brighter for local families.

In addition, members of the Gerald Claps Vocational School Key Club collected 10 cases of food and $60 which will also be donated to local families.

The Levittown Kiwanis Club will continue to collect food donations in order to prepare more holiday baskets in December. Donations can be made at the following locations:

* Petite II Florists in the King Kullen Shopping Center at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and Gardiner's Avenue.

* Dr. Jack Hickey's office: 2870 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown;

* Dr. Jacklyn Nogan's office: 25 A North Bellmore Road, Levittown; or

* Kiwanis Club President Gary Crozier's home: 20 Hyacinth Road, Levittown.

If you know a family in need, please contact club President Gary Crozier at 579-5361.

Another New Member Joins Levittown Kiwanis

On Thursday, Nov. 18, Carol Klein was installed as the newest member of the Levittown Kiwanis Club. Many members of the community may know Carol by another name, as she is frequently at Levittown events entertaining children as, "Mismatch, the Clown." Carol is the fifth new member of the club to be inducted since the beginning of October.

In order to become a member of Kiwanis those interested must attend three meetings and then the prospective members are voted on by the club's board of directors. The club encourages anyone interested in joining this active service organization to attend a meeting.

Levittown Kiwanis meets every Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at:

La Focaccia Restaurant, 70 East Village Green, Levittown, NY 11756, Telephone: 796-4461.

At the club's meeting on Thursday, members heard from Patti Harrington, a member of the Nassau County Courthouse Kiwanis Club. She discussed a new Kiwanis mentoring program that is being initiated in the coming months with the Nassau County Probation Department.

Through this new program, teenagers who have been designated as PINS (Persons In Need of Supervision) would be diverted out of the probation department and instead would be enrolled in this mentoring program with members of local Kiwanis Clubs.

The families of the youngsters involved in the program would have to agree to the mentoring, the youngster could not have a history of violence, could not be a substance abuser and must be emotionally stable and capable of forming a friendship with their designated mentor. Through this new program, children who are brought into the court system because they stayed out too late or got into minor trouble would have an alternative to being enrolled in the probation department.

Kiwanis members who choose to be mentors will be trained through the Long Island Mentoring Partnership. It is expected that this pilot program will begin in February.

Two speakers have been scheduled to speak at upcoming Kiwanis Club meetings on topics with which they are familiar.

* On Dec. 2nd, Dr. Evan Blonder, of the East Village Green Animal Hospital will speak to the club.

* On Dec. 9th Jim Jaccard from Children of Hope/Safehaven will address the club.

Terrific Kids is a program that provides schools with a tool to reward students for special achievements that may otherwise go unnoticed. The Levittown Kiwanis Club has scheduled Terrific Kids Programs in each of the elementary and middle schools in the Levittown and Island Trees Districts for the current school year.

The following are the upcoming Terrific Kids Programs:

Tuesday 11/30 2:15 p.m. East Broadway School

Wednesday 12/1 9:15 a.m. Wisdom Lane MS

Friday 12/17 1:15 p.m. Abbey Lane School

In recent weeks, 21 Northside Elementary School students and 23 Salk Middle School students were recognized as Terrific Kids.

Look for the Kiwanis Korner in the Levittown Tribune every week.