East Idaho Moms is excited to feature the Civitan Club of Idaho Falls, Inc. as our nonprofit for July 2021. Eastern Idaho is fortunate to have a wealth of nonprofit and service organizations. By highlighting some of these groups, we hope to encourage moms and families to get involved and learn about all that our wonderful community has to offer.
Civitan International is an association of community service clubs that encourages personal and professional development through volunteer opportunities aimed at improving communities. Civitan was founded in 1917 by Dr. Courtney W Shropshire, in Birmingham, Alabama, with the mission of providing a volunteer association of clubs to identify and meet community needs with an emphasis on helping people with mental and developmental disabilities. Today there are approximately 1,200 clubs throughout the world, including the Civitan Club of Idaho Falls.
Although Civitan’s emphasis lies in helping people with developmental disabilities, our local Civitan Club is also involved in other community service and fundraising projects. Alive After 5, a weekly event held in the summer, and Pub Golf events are fundraisers the Civitan Club of Idaho Falls is most widely known for. The club also provides other community service and fundraising events to assist nonprofits, however, and funds playgrounds in the City of Idaho Falls. Organizations that have benefited from the Civitan Club of Idaho Falls include the Community Food Basket of Idaho Falls, the Ronald McDonald House at EIRMC, the College of Eastern Idaho scholarship program, the Development Workshop, Good Sam’s, and Camp Hayden.
The Civitan Club of Idaho Falls is the largest Civitan Club in the world with just over 100 current members. Meetings are normally held every Thursday at 12 p.m. at the Westbank in Idaho Falls. However, due to COVID, meetings now occur every other week. Meetings include presentations from community leaders and Civitan International members about current events and ways to best serve the community. Past presenters have highlighted the Museum of Idaho; State of the City; Casting for Recovery, a nonprofit that holds a camp for breast cancer survivors; Suicide Prevention, where members learned about the annual walk and getting certified to help those in crisis; and the Junior Civitan Dance Off, an annual Civitan fundraiser.
Membership fees are $125/quarter for Active Members and $40/quarter for Project Members. Lunch is provided by Diabla’s for Active Members; the cost for the meeting and lunch is $11 for Project Members.
For more information on the Civitan Club of Idaho Falls, please visit its website or Facebook page. You can also contact Michelle Ziel-Dingman, President-Elect, by email at Michelleziel@gmail.com or by phone at 208-206-4735.
