What follows is an update from Gayle Collins the organizer for KKiS - Keeping Kids in School. As we have featured KKiS in our 12 Days/ 12 Ways Holiday Giving Series and many of our readers have shown an interest in KKiS and similar community outreach projects, we are reprinting it here. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like to find out how to get involved!

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KKiSAs our current fiscal year comes to a close, we want to thank each and every one of you for your generous contributions of time, energy and donations.  We have completed our goal of giving back-to-school supplies to over 350 students. A huge thank you to Janet Lowe and Marilou Young for their hundreds of volunteer hours to accomplish this project. And together we have spent over 900 volunteer hours in classrooms working individually with students and distributing school supplies.  Kudos to all of you who participated in the classrooms!

In October we will begin our new fiscal year and here are some of the things we already have planned:
  *  a thorough review of the curriculum activities of this past school year
  *  a thorough review of the schools we have distributed school supplies to
  *  a determination of where we need to expand our school supply distribution
  *  set our goals for the coming school year
  *  set a budget to support our goals
  *  set dates for our auction fundraiser
  *  participate in the Seaside Rotary Golf Classic charity tournament in October
  *  participate in the Wah Wah Beach Party which is a fundraiser for KKIS

KKiSWe are eagerly anticipating our next step of expanding the KKIS Project.and we are starting that by unveiling our new website at http://www.kkisproject.org .  The site was designed by Jason Mize.  Please click on our web page to receive automatic updates.  Check it out and let us know what you would like to see on the site.  We still use our Facebook page at KKIS Project if you are a FB user, please Like us to get our latest updates.

There are 2 opportunities for you to get involved with the KKIS Project this fall:

  1.  The Seaside Rotary Golf Classic will be held on October 26th at the Grand Coral Golf Club.  They need participants in the Golf Tournament and they need prizes to be given out to all participants - about 140 of them.  If you are a golfer, please consider entering the tournament for a fun day of golf.  If you aren't a golfer, please consider making a donation of some type (art work, gift certificate, etc.).  All the proceeds go to Seaside Rotary which has been very active in supporting the KKIS Project.  Please email us for further information or check out their Facebook page:  Seaside Rotary Golf Classic 2013.  Contact us to make a donation.  If you can't be in Playa for this Golf Classic, please consider making a monetary donation through our new web site.

2.  Wah Wah Beach Bar has a Battle of the Bands fundraiser for KKIS Project on or about November 22nd.  They will also be holding an auction with items donated and the proceeds will go to the KKIS Project.  Please consider donating an item to their auction (big or small items similar to Golf Classic).  Items can be donated directly to Kim at Wah Wah's or contact us.  If you can't be in Playa for this fun event, please consider making a monetary donation through our new web site.  Some of the information about this fundraiser and we will keep you informed as to what those changes will be.

We will once again be having our large fundraiser at the end of February.  The auction is be held online and in person at Wah Wah's again this year.  As soon as the date is set, we will email you again.

Once again, THANKS to all of you who make this KKIS Project a success!  We are looking forward to seeing all of you in Playa del Carmen this winter.

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Michele Kinnon
Michele Kinnon and her husband Rob are the owners of BuyPlaya Real Estate Advisors and FurnitureMEX, both based in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Michele is a member of Rotary Club of Playa del Carmen Seaside and participated on the founding committee for Taste of Playa, the Riviera Maya's largest and longest running culinary festival. She also blogs, writes local interest articles and administrates the Riviera Maya Events Calendar. Michele and Rob have lived in Playa del Carmen with their two children since 2004. Follow her updates on Google+.