Our January Member Spotlight is Jake Alley from Shawnee State University!
Jake is a junior majoring in Middle Childhood Education with a focus on Mathematics and Social Studies. He is also minoring in Political Science.
Shawnee State University’s CKI charter had lapsed back in 2006 but Jake initiated the re-charter of club. To prepare for this, he attended the Circle K District Convention in February 2021, and he met with the UC Circle K President. The club officially recharted over the summer under the leadership of Jake. After getting back to school in the fall, the club was able to host their charter ceremony in November with their sponsoring Kiwanis Club of Portsmouth. Below you can see a picture from the event.
Jake is the current President and maintains the Circle K Facebook, emails, and Remind app messages to all members. He also serves as President of the National Society of Leadership and Success and serves as an Ambassador for the School of Education. Additionally, he is a member of the SSU College Republicans, Rotaract, and the Student Government Association. On top of his involvement in these organizations, Jake works as an Office Assistant for SSU Career Services.
He has already led the club as its members volunteered to participate in the Kiwanis Cool Kids Read service project, Kiwanis Kids Day, Shawnee State Weekend of Welcome (to recruit new members), and the Shawnee State Homecoming Parade. Jake had the pleasure of being on the Homecoming Court and representing CKI. He also brought four other members with him to the Fall Rally in November, and he led the club’s recent coat drive, collecting 50 coats that he helped distribute to Shawnee State students in need and to the Salvation Army.
Jake has led Circle K as it participated in the Week of Service with Rotaract on Nov. 15-19, helping to prepare 21 thank you letters to send out to Veterans. They also collected 206 items for the Live Right Homeless Outreach Group on campus. He is currently working with Circle K to collect non-perishable food items for the Autism Project of Southern Ohio’s Food Drive in support of Veterans, and he and other members of the SSU Circle K also participated in a local fundraiser held to support a local toddler who is going through cancer treatments in Columbus. Circle K also volunteered to ring the kettle bells for the Salvation Army in December and will volunteer at Portsmouth’s Winterfest celebration as well.
Jake’s leadership and involvement as club president have been vital to the success this year. To learn more about what their club is doing, check out their social media accounts linked here: https://ohiocki.org/clubs/
Charter Ceremony: The club charter ceremony was held on November 18, 2021. Jay Hash (right), President of the Kiwanis Club of Portsmouth, presented Jake Alley, Circle K President, with the club’s Charter. 
Cool Kids Read: Shawnee State’s Circle K club members distributed free books to the children who attended Kids Day on Saturday, September 18, 2021, as part of the Cool Kids Read campaign. 
Fall Rally: Jake and other members had the pleasure of attending the district event on November 14th in Columbus.
