O.W.L.S = Optimists Working for Learning Success
Optimist clubs partner with local schools to provide nutrition, clothing, school supplies, hygiene products, tutoring and mentoring to help students survive.

In the Spring of 2024, BOCK started its partnership with Beth Heimann’s 2nd-grade class at Comstock Elementary School.

PowerUp

PowerUp is a weekend backpack program committed to feeding hungry children in our community’s public schools. They currently serve over four hundred students every weekend in the Portage Public School District, and they are making an effort to expand into more schools in the Kalamazoo region.

BOCK volunteers a few times a year packing bags.

Care Collective

Their Mission:  By providing barrier-free access to diapers, baby wipes, and menstrual products to families and young people, Care Collective supports multigenerational well-being.

BOCK volunteers a few times a year repackaging diapers and period products

Blankets
Every year, BOCK individuals make Fleece Tie Blankets for Bronsons Children Hospital.  At least one a year, members tie blankets at a weekly meeting.

Bowl for Kids Sake
Every year, half a million people across America come together to have fun and raise money to support Big Brothers Big Sisters.

This year’s Bowl for Kids Sake took place on February 21.  This year’s theme was Board Games.  BOCK had two team – Team Uno and Team Dos

Oratorical Contest
The Oratorical Contest took place in March 2026.  This year we had 5 participants.

Essay Contest
This year’s Essay Contest took place in March.  This year’s topic was “How my acts of service help me understand what my community means to me.”BOCK Book Gardens

Trunk or Treats

Back to School Shopping

Book Garden
We supply books to: both area Hospitality Houses, Oakwood Neighborhood Association, Comstock Elementary, and Kalamazoo Child Care Center