ROCHELLE — At the beginning of its club year in October, Will McLachlan became the new president of the Rochelle Kiwanis Golden K Club, succeeding Ric Taylor. 

The longtime Rochelle service club supports local organizations, namely children, through its fundraisers that include a raffle, hot dog and brat sales at community events, Peanut Days, Salvation Army bell ringing, the Little Miss Peanut Pageant at Lincoln Highway Heritage Festival, and a bottle cap donation program to add park benches to the community. 

“It's a great honor to be president,” McLachlan said. “I'm really proud of our club and community. The community is really generous to our club. And I'm proud of our club because we have a lot of good members that raise a lot of funds that we give back to the community. Our Kiwanis Club is focused on helping kids in the local area. We support a lot of different organizations and scholarships and if situations arise where someone needs help, we raise money to help them. I'm just really thankful to help guide our club, because it's already going in such a good direction.”

McLachlan said increasing fundraising and membership will be his two top priorities as president. The club meets at 8 a.m. on Thursday mornings at the Presbyterian Church if interested potential future members want to come to a meeting. You can also communicate with the club on Facebook at Kiwanis Club of Rochelle, Illinois.

“We always need to find new members,” McLachlan said. “This club is a great club, so I just want people to be aware of that. We meet and socialize and have great community and bonding time. We're hanging out and having fun, but we're also helping kids. It's two good things. If people are interested or looking to get more involved in the community, we could be a great fit for them.”

McLachlan said the club anticipates doing each one of its yearly promotions again in 2024 and that they’re all spread out throughout the year to keep a balance. The club is also considering bringing back its Pancake Day event this year, but nothing is official yet. 

The new Kiwanis Golden K president got involved with the club after moving to Rochelle to meet people. Once he did that, he saw the giving back and volunteering aspects and became more involved. Service clubs of all types are seeing difficulties due to aging membership. 

“I saw the value in it,” McLachlan said. “Maybe it can be tough to see when you're a younger person. You have a lot of other things going on and there may not be time for volunteering. Volunteering makes you feel good because you're doing something good for others. Maybe you can carve out an hour or two a week to help a cause. It's not a lot of time. Service organizations are filled with a lot of older people because in general, they have more time. For younger people, it's a great way to know more about your community and you'll be surprised by the benefits of that.”

McLachlan said being involved with the club is a great way to meet new people and know more about what’s going on in the community. The club is made up of active local community members, and speakers are hosted at meetings from local businesses and the City of Rochelle. 

“It's opened my eyes tremendously to how generous this community is,” McLachlan said. “With the bottle cap donations, Peanut Days, and just asking for support for our fundraisers, we get a lot of support from the community. I don't think that every community is like this. I'm very thankful for and proud of our club and community. We're trying to go in the right direction.”