Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time.

Meridian Kiwanis of Columbus, IN was founded on November 16, 1961. Since that time, we have helped organize many activities to further our mission of helping children worldwide and right here in Indiana.

Ok, folks, here's the bigger reason for running a Coolest Pet in Columbus Contest. With our basic focus on youth, we're raising money to help reduce infant mortality in central Indiana. It's a huge problem—much bigger than you would ever imagine. Far too many babies die before their first birthday. So the Columbus Meridian Kiwanis Club, and its partners Upland Brewing, White River Broadcasting and The Republic, are working together to bring awareness to the issue. Dollars raised through this campaign will be donated to the Columbus Meridian Kiwanis which will distribute funds to March of Dimes & Riley Kid's non-profit organizations whose mission is to help reduce infant mortality and provide health & human services and educational opportunities to disadvantaged children in Indiana.

We sponsor Key Clubs at two area high schools to help high school students develop a passion for service and leadership. We help area youth organizations raise money for their needs through our Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash. We have also raise funds through an annual Golf Outing. Funds are used for our many projects which primarily focus on helping children, such as our Race for Safety, Speech and Language Clinic, and Book Express for the Literacy Task Force.

More recently, we help other organizations who share our mission, such as boxing food for Feed My Starving Children and our 100 Acts of Kindness, where we monthly donate essential items such as shoes, underwear or dental hygiene kits to local schoolchildren.