FLATLANDS — It was the perfect storm: the first accumulating snowfall of the season on the first day of winter, followed by a visit from Santa Claus the next day commemorating the Kings Plaza/Canarsie Kiwanis’ annual Winter Wonderland event. 

Orchestrated by the Kings Plaza/Canarsie Kiwanis Club, Winter Wonderland is in its fifth year of providing toys to needy children with food, drinks and games, including a visit from Santa (Kiwanian Richard Schweid).

The event, which took place on Saturday, Dec. 21, at St. Thomas Aquinas Sports (1501 Hendrickson St.), accommodated approximately 100 children between the ages of three and 12.

“Kiwanians look to meet the needs of the community they serve,” newly-installed Lt. Governor Mark Pohl told the Brooklyn Eagle. He is slated to serve through Sept. 30, 2025. 

Pohl added, “Giving back to the kids and the community is what it’s all about here,” noting that hundreds of toys from the Kings Plaza/Canarsie Kiwanis Club were brought in at this year’s event.  

Pohl, the highest ranking Kiwanian in Brooklyn, oversees all nine of the borough’s clubs, making sure they are all active and helping their communities, he explained. Before he was Lt. Governor, Pohl, a retired American history teacher born and raised in Crown Heights, was a Kiwanian for 14 years and served as club secretary for Kings Plaza/Canarsie and then as president. 

Kings Plaza/Canarsie Kiwanis, with nearly 50 members, is one of the largest clubs in the Brooklyn division. Pohl said that his goals for the new year are to add more new clubs in Brooklyn and make the division grow.

“There are around three clubs in the works now, in Bath Beach, Little Caribbean/Flatbush and Park Slope,” Pohl said.

The Kiwanis Club’s motto is “serving the children of the world,” and it is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and community at a time. 

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. That same year, Kiwanis became an international organization with the founding of the Kiwanis Club of Hamilton, Ontario. 

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.

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