Kiwanis Club of Mercury 64 celebrates 50th anniversary

The Kiwanis Club of Mercury 64 2012-13 officers are Harvey Margulies, treasurer; Al Baker, secretary and Jeremy Douglas, president.

The Kiwanis Club of Mercury 64 celebrated its 50th anniversary on Oct. 3.

Chartered in 1962, the club held its first meeting at the Hampton Holiday Inn. Meetings continued there until it closed in Aug. 2011.

The club, along with other Kiwanis Clubs in the area contributed more than $1 million for an emergency room at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters; raised more than $300,000 for CHKD for a new medical transport vehicle and raised $100,000 for items like wall-mounted toys and TVs for emergency treatment rooms.

Since the year after its chartering, Mercury 64 has hosted 49 consecutive breakfasts to honor new teachers in the Hampton School District. In recent years, the club helped to establish the Hampton Mayor's Book Club, which provides books to Hampton area children in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade.

Kiwanis is an organization that dedicates itself to assisting children throughout the world.

For more information on Kiwanis and Mercury 64, visit www.kcomercury64.org.

Filed under: COMMUNITY