Moving from provisional to a district in good standing.
Written by Kendall Stokes, 2024-25 Montana Governor
When I chartered my home club at Montana State University-Billings, U.S., and joined Circle K International, I came into a district that only had two other active clubs. Nearing the end of my first term as the Montana District governor, I was informed that Montana had moved into provisional district status because we only had those three active clubs.
The minimum requirement for district status is five active clubs in good standing. Even after we grew our district by one new club, we were still two clubs short.
I decided to not let it discourage me — I was determined to make it happen in my second term. One of the best things you can do in this situation is to keep a good mindset and find people you can rely on for support. I started by reaching out to my Circle K International trustee and district administrator to ensure I understood exactly what provisional status meant for the district. After that, we made a strategic growth plan. This helped us lay out exactly where we wanted to see growth and where to begin.
Then it was time to take action by chartering new clubs. I started reaching out to Key Club alumni, universities and Kiwanis clubs to express my interest in chartering new clubs and to ask for support. I got responses from people interested and excited to help me accomplish these goals, so I educated them more about CKI and our next steps. After some time, we ended up getting one new club chartered and another club reactivated — with leads on two new clubs for the next year.
Once we reached five clubs in good standing and membership growth in our existing clubs, we submitted a proposal to reinstate district status. It was denied due to a lack of district officers at the time. While this was very frustrating, it just made me more motivated to show everyone what our district can do despite being one of the smallest in CKI.
At the 2024 Circle K International Convention, I spoke in support of the provisional status amendment and voted to change it so that any provisional district is granted district status once it reaches the minimum requirement of five clubs in good standing. The amendment passed, and two months later the 2024 Kiwanis International House of Delegates also passed it, resulting in our goal: Montana was officially a district again.
It was quite a journey, but I’m thankful for it. I learned to stay resilient and consistent, reach out to others for support and guidance, and maintain the confidence that you can achieve anything if you really want it.