Circle K International (CKI) is the premier collegiate and university community service, leadership development, and friendship organization in the world. With more than 13,000 members in 17 nations, CKI is making a positive impact on the world every day.

Circle K clubs are organized and sponsored by a Kiwanis club on a college or university campus. CKI is a self-governing organization and elects its own officers, conducts its own meetings, and determines its own service activities.

CKI blends community service and leadership training with the opportunity to meet other college students around the world. Projects such as the WASH Project, CKI’s International initiative that aims to provide education, awareness, and funding to supply clean drinking water and sanitation education to schools and children in underdeveloped regions, bring CKI members together to make a difference in the world.

CKI began in 1936 as a Kiwanis club service project to provide an opportunity for capable, ambitious, and worthy young men to acquire a college education by assisting them, where necessary, with their financial problems, by means of a scholarship fund, if available, or securing part-time employment. Soon after the concept of CKI was recognized and accepted, the element of community service was introduced, thus creating an appealing outlet for collegians around the globe.

Today, as the largest collegiate service organization, CKI boasts a membership of more than 13,000 collegians on more than 550 campuses worldwide. CKI is a student-led organization with an International Board of Representatives elected by its membership each year. Embodied by its tenets of service, leadership, and fellowship at the Club, District and International levels, CKI continues to grow through service to the world’s campuses and communities.

Timeline
1936: Circle K concept presented at the collegiate level at Washington State University.
1947: First CKI club chartered at Carthage College, Illinois.
1949: CKI becomes an international organization with the chartering of a club at the University of Western Ontario.
1953: Kenneth B. Creasy of Ohio Wesleyan University is elected as President of CKI.
1955: CKI Constitution and Bylaws adopted.
1957: Texas-Oklahoma becomes the first district of CKI.
1971: Females welcomed into CKI.
1982: CKI membership surpasses 14,500 members.
1999: CKI leadership dedicates 1999 as the Year of Service.
2000: Members of CKI surpass the US$420,000 mark in the effort to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders.
2005: CKI marks its 50th anniversary.
2007: CKI announces its international fundraiser, Saving Lives: The Six Cents Initiative, which focuses on getting clean water to children who need it most.