Key Club Observation Report

At Lincolnton High School there is a limited amount of club activity going on, however, I reach out to all of the clubs to explore the opportunities they could provide. I have dedicated the most of my time and efforts to the school’s Key Club, the high school branch of the local Kiwanis Club. What originally drew me to the Key Club was its dedication to serving the people of the Lincolnton High School community. Quickly, I was enveloped in the various club projects and was then elected my junior year as vice president and then my senior year as president. The creativity I was allowed to pour into the club resulted in many positive influences in the community and opened new doors to future charitable opportunities. As a smaller club, out monetary funds are reasonably limited, however, during our annual penny wars, due to creative campaigning, the Key Club was able to raise nine hundred dollars. The club had never realised that much money before, and we were honored to share this money with the local women’s shelter, Amy’s House. I believe this is
when the Key Club finally began to root itself in the giving spirit and find more way to become involved in the local community. I began researching new projects to take and found out about the Toms Shoe Drive. Toms, the shoe company was willing to give the club a considerable discount if we bought a certain amount of shoes. Eager to undertake this chance, I quickly began spearheading the fundraiser to accomplish this task. In the end, the club raised enough money to supply twenty children at the local elementary school with new shapes for the school year. I was flabbergasted by the pure unfiltered appreciation that shined through those kids faces. It was an amazing chain of good deeds that allowed this to happen. The fundraiser for the Toms Shoe Drive was the Apple Festival Shuttles.
The Key Club runs an annual service where people can park their cars at the high school, ride a van up to the town’s court square to enjoy the festival, and return to the parking lot safely. This service is a pillar in the Apple Festival, as many people rely on this service to attend the festival. This past year, I spoke with a woman taking her elderly mother to the festival. She recalled all the years her mother was unable to attend as she felt that she couldn't walk around the festivities and then back to her car without being exhausted. She told me that, “without this shuttle, my mother would spend her last few Apple Festivals at home and miss out on something that has always made her happy.” The amount of joy and pride I felt at this admission truly made all the planning and pulling everything together worth all the stress that comes along with
it. Altogether, I am so proud of what the Key Club has accomplished and continues to do for the community. The club consistently serves the people of Lincolnton though services like feeding the veterans of Lincoln County breakfast on Veteran’s Day or planning a community garden. I consistently pull from local resources, such a the members of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) to see when the Key Club could place flags on the graves of veterans, or organizing with the heads of the local Kiwanis Club to make the Apple Festival Shuttles happen. What I have gained from the experiences of working in my Key Club are leadership skills that have enabled me to effectively use my resources to accomplish goals that overall better the community.