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Des Moines - 2010
 Distinguished Club Award
2008 - 2009
Distinguished Club Award
2007 - 2008
2008 Award Recipient
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Basketball Jamboree
 The
Kiwanis
Basketball Jamboree is the longest, continuously held charitable
event in Central Iowa. From its inception in 1948 as a football
scrimmage between Drake University and Graceland College, the Jamboree
has evolved through the years into an annual event that has raised
nearly $1.5 million to benefit disadvantaged children and youth
programs in the Greater Des Moines area.
With
the 1968 Jamboree, the competitive format was changed to basketball,
where it remains today. Initially, the Basketball Jamboree was played
in Veterans Memorial Auditorium and featured Boys teams from the
Central Iowa Metropolitan League. In 1993, Girls teams joined the
schedule of the day. Also in 1993, we began collaborating with the
Westside and West Des Moines Kiwanis Clubs in presenting the Jamboree.
Those new partnerships have expanded our ability to make the Kiwanis
Basketball Jamboree a truly outstanding Central Iowa event - one
that players, fans, and college recruiters look forward to every
year.
The
event, sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Central Iowa
McDonald's restaurants, benefits Central Iowa organizations such
as Ronald McDonald House Charities, YMCA, YWCA, Boys and Girls Clubs,
Easter Seals, Amanda the Panda, Children and Families of Iowa, Drake
Head Start, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and more than 20 others.
For example, in 2005, we raised nearly $15,000 that was contributed to the Ronald McDonald Charities where our money was matched two-for-one. Due to this generous contribution, the toddlers at the House of Mercy have a new specialized outdoor playground, which they have never had!
Proceeds from our 2006 Basketball Jamboree were again matched by Ronald McDonald Charities, with over $24,000 going to the Wildwood Hills Ranch to refurbish the equestrian grounds. Wildwood Hills is a camp-like experience for at-risk kids that optimizes its success on one-on-one relationships with horses and the outdoors.
Proceeds from our 2007 and 2008 Basketball Jamborees, again matched by Ronald McDonald Charities, benefited our own Kiwanis Miracle League Field project--a special non-obstructed rubberized baseball field that allows kids with special needs to play league-type baseball--just like kids who don't have disabilities!
In 2009, matched proceeds helped Blank Children’s Hospital purchase a portable sedation machine for use in the pediatric cancer unit.
This event is so big, we even have a separate web site! Check
it out.
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