How it all began.

The Kiwanis Club of Pullman, Washington, sponsored the Circle K House for young men in need of help at Washington State University. The Circle K House continued to be sponsored by the Pullman Kiwanis club after becoming affiliated as a Greek fraternity house.

The first Circle K club similar to our present-day organization is chartered at Carthage College in Carthage, Illinois. With the help of a Kiwanis International trustee named Donald T. Forsythe, the club at Carthage College in Carthage had a renewed focus on service. (The college moved to its present-day location of Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1962.)

The University of Western Ontario becomes the second Circle K Club to charter.

The first Circle K Convention was held in New York city, New York.

A meeting of 35 Circle K clubs was held to elect officers and seek recognition by Kiwanis International. The next year, Kiwanis International officially recognized Circle K International as a sponsored youth affiliate.

Texas-Oklahoma is recognized as the first CKI district.

Circle K House of Delegates votes overwhelmingly to amend the CKI constitution to allow women to join the organization--a first for the Kiwanis family.

Gregory Faulkner of the New York District is elected Circle K International’s first African American president.

The College of the Bahamas becomes the first club to be officially chartered outside of the United States and Canada.

Susan E. McClernon of the College of St. Scholastica in Minnesota is elected the first female president of Circle K International.

Convention delegates approve an amendment allowing the organization to use its initials — CKI — as an official name for the organization.

CKI joins the Kiwanis family in its largest global campaign – raising money to help UNICEF fight iodine deficiency disorders, the leading preventable cause of intellectual disabilities. This partnership with UNICEF will blossom into new projects, such as WASH in 2017 and Brick x Brick in 2022.

CKI updates its pledge to reflect gender neutrality: “I pledge to uphold the Object of Circle K International, to foster compassion and goodwill toward others through service and leadership, to develop my abilities and the abilities of all people and to dedicate myself to the realization of humanity’s potential.”

In a post-COVID world, CKI formally recognizes clubs that meet primarily virtually or across several campuses.

CKI clubs raise over $100,000 for the UNICEF USA: Brick x Brick program, helping change lives for families in the African nation of Côte d’Ivoire.