Manteca’s Sunrise Kiwanis are joining the “$1 Million Club” on Thursday.
The service club’s fourth annual Community Night of Giving  at the Manteca Senior Center, 295 Cherry Lane, from 7 to 9 p.m. will feature the presentation of checks to various non-profits totaling $47,360.
Add that to what they have previous given and the amount the club has been able to give to community endeavors this year thanks to the 2017 Pumpkin Fair is $58,640.
But that is only part of the story.
The Sunrise Kiwanis have used vendor fee proceeds to donate more than $708,000 over the years. In addition, non-profits have raised an estimated $320,000 through their booths at Pumpkin Fairs. That means the annual downtown event the first weekend in October has raised more than $1 million during the 34 years the Kiwanis have staged the event. Prior to that, the Manteca’s Jaycees presented the Pumpkin Fair that was launched by Manteca pumpkin growers who raise just over 80 percent of California’s commercial pumpkin crop.
The Pumpkin Fair has helped make the Sunrise Kiwanis the most generous supporter of non-profits in Manteca. The event itself is also the single largest collective fundraiser for non-profits as well.
The Manteca Sunrise Kiwanis selected the Boys & Girls Club of Manteca/Lathrop, Agape Villages Foster Family, and Give Every Child a Chance as the three main organizations that will receive funds from the 2017 Pumpkin Fair proceeds.
Also receiving checks on Thursday will be VFW Post 6311, Manteca Prayer Breakfast, Manteca Senior Center, Sunrise Kiwanis International Foundation, Raymus House, Boy Scout Troop 432, Manteca Police Explorers, Community Emergency Response Team, Dream Closet, Kiwanis Family House, Manteca Noon Kiwanis Sponsored Youth, Every 15 Minutes, Second Harvest Food Bank, Seniors Helping Area Residents and Police, Special Day on the Farm, Thanksgiving in Manteca, Kiwanis Eliminate Program, Manteca High Sober Grad, East Union High Sober Grad, Sierra High Sober Grad, Great Valley Bookfest, Hospice of San Joaquin, Manteca Rotary, Valley CAPS, American Legion Post 249, Be.Tech career high school, Relay for Life, Kiwanis Rose Bowl Parade Float, Manteca Historical Society, FG Team Boosters, East Union Cemetery Association, Scout Troop 422, Manteca High Thespian Club, East Union High choir, and Manteca Centennial Celebration committee.
Other community endeavors the Sunrise Kiwanis do include high school scholarships, Tidewater Bike Way clean-up, Flags Over Manteca, Dream Closet, Thanksgiving in Manteca, the Fourth of July parade, and the annual rib feed among other events.
Kiwanis International started in 1915 in Detroit. It now has over 16,000 clubs in 80 countries averaging 18 million volunteer hours a year and giving $100 million to community projects across the globe on an annual basis.