Florida District Of Kiwanis Elects Sharon Moody Governor

PLANT CITY, FL — Sharon Moody, a longtime community leader in the Plant City area, has been elected as governor for the Florida District of Kiwanis.

In her capacity as governor of one of the largest Kiwanis Districts in the nation in 2022-23, Moody, will oversee 220 Kiwanis Clubs and 348 Key Clubs — including clubs in Grand Cayman, Turks & Caicos and Puerto Rico—representing nearly 28,000 members.

“I am excited and honored to be elected governor of the Florida District,” said Moody, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Plant City since 2007, who served in a variety of district chair positions before becoming governor. “I look forward to growing our district-wide membership by adding new clubs and strengthening existing clubs. I hope to make more Floridians aware of — and involved in — the Kiwanis message of ‘Improving the world one child and one community at a time.’ Simply put, Kids need Kiwanis and we need Floridians to volunteer their time to help improve the life of a child.”

The Florida District is part of Kiwanis International, one of the world’s largest community service organizations with more than 550,000 members in 85 countries. Those members, whose focus is on helping kids, perform approximately 150,000 service projects a year, representing more than 19 million hours of community involvement.

Elected at the recent Florida District Convention in Naples, Moody, who took office Oct. 1, has been involved in community activities in Plant City for more than four decades. A former grand marshal for the Florida Strawberry Festival and the Plant City Christmas Parade, Moody was recently honored with the Plant City YMCA Strong Leader Award.

As a member of Kiwanis, Moody has held nine district-level positions and five club-level positions and has also been the recipient of the Kiwanis International President Challenge Award, the Distinguished Lt. Governor Award and the Distinguished President Award.

In 2022, under the leadership of Moody — who is the founder and past president of both the Plant City Black Heritage Celebration and the Plant City Junior League Woman’s Club — the Kiwanis Club of Plant City partnered with the Plant City Police Department, the city of Plant City and Kiwanis Literacy Clubs of California for the Kiwanis ‘Cops ‘N Kids program. Through a book drive, the local police department and the California clubs collected more than 600 books over the summer. The program, which features police officers reading to kids, is designed to promote children’s literacy and community trust in law enforcement.

“This program was extremely successful, and we hope to promote it on a district-wide level,” said Moody, who captured her Kiwanis club’s Citizen of the Year Award in 2016 for her tireless work on behalf of children. “Improving a child’s reading skills and instilling a trust in police is a win-win for everyone.”

To find a local Kiwanis club, visit Kiwanis.org/join or contact the Florida District of Kiwanis at 407-324-9800.

This press release was produced by the Florida District of Kiwanis. The views expressed here are the author's own.