BAY RIDGE — The Dyker Heights/Borough Park Kiwanis Club held its annual Christmas Party at the Greenhouse Café Dec. 12. 

The gala, which accommodated more than 60 spectators, honored newly-minted Kiwanis member Barbara Howe, a former real estate broker and school teacher, in addition to the Bradley Family, who tragically lost their son, Jim Jr., a Bay Ridge local and Navy man, in 2019 at the age of 22.  

Jim Bradley Sr. explained that while this is a tough time of year for his family, “The Dyker Heights/Borough Park Kiwanis Club — especially Penny [Santo, vice president] and Dominick [Santo, president] — were all in from the very beginning, and that’s what is incredibly impressive to us.” 

Dominick Santo told the Brooklyn Eagle that giving back is what it’s all about — and looking ahead into 2025, he said he expects to keep doing what he has been doing —  supporting local organizations, people and trying to spread good will in any way he can.

“There are a lot of folks that are going through hard times,” Santo said, noting that he is also looking into building up the membership in the new year. “We have members that bring friends to our meetings, and many of them become Kiwanians eventually. One member at our last meeting brought in five people, and most of them signed up.”

Santo pointed out that what he looks for in a new member is a person simply looking to donate their time, “and if they want to donate money, great,” he said, “and just be a real stand-up citizen that wants to help their community.” 

Of the nine Kiwanis Clubs in Brooklyn, Dyker Heights/Borough Park is the second largest in the Brooklyn division — second only to Ben Bay.

Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. Its motto is “serving the children of the world.”

Kiwanis International was founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. The organization was originally called the Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order of Brothers, and one year later, the name changed to Kiwanis, which was selected by the organization’s founders based on their understanding that the word was translatable to “we build” from the Algonquian Native American language family. That same year, Kiwanis became an international organization with the founding of the Kiwanis Club of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. 

Initially focused on business networking, the organization changed its focus to service in 1919 — specifically service to children. Over the years, more clubs were created in the U.S. and Canada, and worldwide expansion was ultimately approved in the 1960s. Today, there are Kiwanis clubs in nearly 80 nations and geographic locations.

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