Fundraising Success for Glendora Kiwanis and Others

Pete Horton would use cold water and a dull razor to ready himself in the mornings back in 1969 as a 21-year-old enlisted into the Vietnam War. The former radio repair man with the marines would fix telephone sets leftover from WWII, returning back to a base that was often time short of everyday basic commodities.

 “(Toilet paper) was often in short supply and the stuff the marine corp. gave you was not always great,” Horton, now 62, said.

The significance of two hundred care packages gathered by Kiwanis members of Division 35, a dozen Kiwanis Clubs in the San Gabriel Valley, which includes s and Kiwanianne, was not lost on Horton, one of several former military personnel in attendance.

Gathered at Williams Elementary in Glendora Thursday, Horton and more than 150 other Kiwanis and Key Club members – the high school arm of the service organization – along with others came together to bundle magazines, toothpaste, socks, foot power, and other basic necessities into 200 boxes that will be taken down to Camp Pendleton. 

Horton, who currently serves as executive director of at Cal-Nev-Ha District of Kiwanis International, remembers when he received a care package packed with gum, “reel-to-reel tapes” and other items during the Vietnam War.    

“You think about things you take for granted in everyday living, these are things you can’t get in a combat situation,” said Horton, who was in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970.  “All these little necessities and niceties they are sending these guys are the same kind of stuff we got.  It really means a lot.  It’s stuff you can really use.”

Debbie Deal, a Glendora resident and lieutenant governor of Division 35, said the night was special because of the selfless attitude that filled the Williams Elementary auditorium.

“It was the serving others aspect of it tonight that everybody came here to together to do something for someone else,” said Deal, who was named along with her husband as Glendora’s 2010 “Citiizen of the Year.    

 For the project, each Kiwanis Club in Division 35 was told to collect 200 items of three select products.  Each package carried 36 items. 

Aggie Kee from Walnut Valley Kiwanis Club was put in charge of collecting feminine products, handy whites, and foot powder.  Kee approached her bosses at Whittier Filtration in Brea, and the company agreed to match contributions made by employees. Kee said each employee donated about $20 each, which was then used to buy these necessities.

Carl Zeiss Vision Inc. based in San Diego provided 2,000 eyeglass wipes.  Sam’s Club in Glendora provided free pizza for the event.

Rona Lunde, a Glendora Kiwanis Club member and division patriotism co-chair at Cal-Nev-Ha District of Kiwanis International, said the clubs were easily able to meet their quota because of people’s support for the armed forces.

“It was the military,” said Lunde, one of six members, along with Deal, who helped coordinate the division project. “Because of the times we are in with the Middle East and wanting to help those over there that might not have the amenities that we put in those boxes.”

Greg Gillham, who helped pull together the food to feed the 150 people in attendance, half-jokingly said next year the clubs might look to pull together 400 boxes.

“The marines will appreciate this…” Gillham said.  “It makes your heart really good helping those out there protecting our rights and protecting that flag.”

The twelve Kiwanis clubs in Division 35 include, Arcadia, Duarte, El Monte, Glendora and Glendora Kiwanianne, Hacienda Heights, La Puente Industry, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, S. Hills Covina, Walnut Valley, and W. Covina.