Mental Health Association

Diane Buenger and Kara Harrison, representing the Mental Health Association of Hancock County spoke to Kiwanis. The organization helps families and individuals living with mental illness. This affects the whole family.


Diane stressed that slur words bother her most and that sometimes words used unthinkingly can create a stigma toward an individual. Words such as insane, psycho, psychotic, crazy etc. should be used sparingly if at all. She told us that a person is not “psychotic” as that is a term used to describe a set of symptoms and not a person.

Kara is the new person working for the Association. She is from Hancock County and is very enthusiastic about her job. She said that MHA is a non-profit organization working to encourage, provide, and advocate for mental health and emotional wellness. They have served Hancock County since 1954. One of the most familiar services of the Assn. is the holiday gift lift which donations are used to provide items and cheer for isolated senior citizens, mentally ill, and developmentally disabled residents of Hancock County.

Hancock County has many volunteer opportunities for people of all ages. If you are interested in a one time event or a regular commitment please contact the office for details about volunteering. New Website is www.mentalhealthamericahc.org or E-mail: HCMHA98@aol.com or call 462-2877.

Kiwanis Aktion Clubs

 Don Collins, District Chairman of Aktion Club in Shelbyville, Indiana, spoke to local Kiwanians. He told that an Aktion Club is a community-service group for adults living with disabilities. The mission is to provide adults an opportunity to develop the ability to serve their community and to demonstrate the value of citizens living with disabilities.


An Aktion Club is sponsored by a Kiwanis club but can also be sponsored by a group of clubs or a division. There are Aktion Clubs in Shelbyville and Noblesville.

Aktion club members attend meetings to learn about community issues, plan service and fundraising projects, and enjoy fellowship with others. Club members perform community service such as park beautification, food drives, and nursing home visitations. Members make visits to zoos, museums, and sporting events to share time with one another.

Membership is open to any adult living with a disability who wants to become a leader in community service to others. Each club elects officers and organizes member into committees. Club meetings are similar to Kiwanis meetings and are held once a week and last about one hour.

Aktion Club is an official Kiwanis sponsored program, and a member of the Kiwanis family which includes: K-Kids (elementary school), Builders Club (junior high), Key Club (high school), Circle K International (college), Kiwanis Junior (young adults), Kiwanis (adults).

Kiwanis Donates to Food Pantry

Russ Bunton, president of Kiwanis presents a $1,000 check to Nancy and Dick Kent from the Hancock County Food Pantry.

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Tats Matsuoka --"Meet Your Kiwanian"

Tats Matsuoka was the featured speaker for "Meet Your Kiwanian" for August. Tats told about his life on the west coast during the war years and of coming to Indiana to work at Eli Lilly. He has lived in Indiana for over 40 years and while not being born a Hoosier, he feels like this is home

Super Bowl 2012

Chris Gahl, Volunteer Co-Chair and Director of Communications for the Indianapolis Visitors Bureau, spoke to Kiwanis about the 2012 Super Bowl. The epic game is only 530 (from 8-24) days away. He told about all that went in to winning the bid for the Bowl game and what that win would do for the city and surrounding donut areas.

In order to be in the running for the game, the city had to have 70,000 seats available and be connected to a Convention Center for the NFL for use for the NFL Experience, a required number of hotel rooms in the area, restaurants and a required number of “beer taps”. Also, two practice areas within a 50 mile radius had to be provided. Indy has one at the Colts complex but the second had to be added and it will be built at the University of Indianapolis. After the bowl, one million dollars worth of turf will be donated to Tech High School for “Project Legacy”. The hope of all is to leave a “positive footprint” on the city that will lead to recovery of areas of Indianapolis that have needed help. Happening right now is the planting of 2,012 trees. By Bowl time, Indianapolis will have the trees growing and that will help beautify the area and be a lasting contribution.

What will this do for the city and area? The Super Bowl has become an unofficial holiday and expects to add 125 to 400 million which provides a huge economic impact to our community. This represents a huge return on the 25 million dollar investment. The Bowl is the most watched primetime network telecast. The Super Bowl promises at least 120,000 visitors as compared to the 80,000 that attend the NCAA tourney. Fans from 230 countries are expected. NBC will be telecasting the game in 2012 and the TODAY show as well as NBC nightly news will be in Indianapolis the week before the game.

Elanco in Greenfield

Joan Todd from Elanco in Greenfield spoke to Kiwanis. Todd and her family moved to Greenfield from Hamilton County. She highly recommends living here. They live north of Maxwell with her many horses, dogs and cats.


She told us that Elanco is in the animal business. Their purpose is to produce healthy food to produce healthy animals. They support the Heifer animal program which provides an animal to an impoverished foreign family. Their theory being that “to give a man a fish, he eats for one day but teach him how to fish and he has food for life.” They also partner with the local Food Pantry.

Elanco topped one billion dollars in sales last year and while that is only 5% of Lilly’s global business, it was a number to be noticed. They also do a smaller amount with pet care.

The new three building complex was built especially for Elanco. The Greenfield location was chosen because of easy proximity to restaurants and hotels as they host many foreign visitors each year.

The new Gas America being built on Elanco property but not owed by Elanco, will include a restaurant new to our area. It is “Miami Sub/Pizza”.

Joan was a knowledgeable and vivacious speaker about her company and said that tours of the facility could be arranged by reservation to interested groups.