The Kiwanis Club of Swainsboro held its weekly meeting Tuesday night, April 7, 2026, at the Emanuel County Library at 6:30 p.m. With President Dianna Wedincamp presiding, they had 15 in attendance, including guests, Sharekia Lewis, Destiny Wilcher and Nancy Lisenby.
Dess Smith won the drawing for the cake. Wanda Ellis won the Domino’s pizza donated by Domino's Pizza.
The program for the evening was hosted by Wanda Ellis, who introduced Nancy Lisenby, a very active community volunteer. Nancy spoke about her role as the Red Cross Blood Drive Coordinator. She talked about the need for blood donors for medical procedures and for natural disasters. Donors must be at least 17 years old, 16 years old with their parents’ permission, but there is no maximum age as long as the donor is in good health. You can give blood unless you are currently sick, have recently traveled to certain places, or have had certain illnesses. The benefits of giving blood include the obvious ways it helps other people, but you also get a mini-physical, are able to socialize with friends and neighbors, and you get a cookie and something to drink. The next community blood drive will take place on May 14 at Southeastern Technical College in Swainsboro.
The club met on April 11 at the Franklin Memorial Library from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. to assemble new sets of Little Free Libraries (LFL). “Thanks again to Mill Creek Foundation for the grant to purchase the LFLs. The Girl Scouts have volunteered to help also. The Girl Scouts also invited us to the Scout Hut on April 21 for a spaghetti dinner to show off the refurbishing of the Hut by the city,” said Dess Smith.
The Kiwanis Club will have a White Elephant Sale on May 2 starting at 8 a.m in the parking lot of the Primitive Baptist Church at 242 W. Main Street in Swainsboro. If you have items to donate, bring them to the church on April 10 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and/or April 18 from 12 noon to 3 p.m.
Deana Patrick updated the club on some Franklin Memorial Library events, including a Book Sale held on April 7 – 10 and the Summer Reading Program.
The library is also sponsoring a reading program for adults with great prizes this summer. The ending celebration is scheduled for June 26. Pre-K Fun Day is scheduled for April 17 starting at 10 a.m. at the Early Learning Center. President Wedincamp made assignments to club members to cook hamburgers and popcorn, to make the cotton candy, and to stuff the lunch bags.
The Keep Emanuel Beautiful Trash Bash is scheduled for April 25 from 9 a.m to 11:30 am. A drawing will take place at the end with lots of prizes available for those who participate.
