Sean C. Morgan
Community organizations recognized Sweet Home High School Key Club members recently for their work in the community over the past year.
“Every time we ask them to show up, they show up,” said Don Gonzalez, the Kiwanis Club adviser to the Key Club.
The Key Club is a student-led international service organization sponsored by the Kiwanis with a vision of transforming communities worldwide.
“The mantra for Kiwanis is we strive to change the world one community, one child at a time,” Gonzalez said.
Key Club members have been involved in a wide range events and activities since the club was established at the high school.
Among them this year have been the annual blood drive and a Valentine’s Day dance to raise money for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. Club members have helped Sweet Home Emergency Ministries, the Elks Lodge and the Chamber of Commerce, serving meals for the organizations and helping to prepare the chamber for painting.
The club will soon begin working with the Beautification Committee, which maintains the median planters on Main Street and the flowerbeds at the city limits.
“The goal here is to say, ‘Hey, they show up for us – we need to show up to recognize what they do for the community,’” Gonzalez said.
The club has about 20 members, 10 to 12 of whom are regularly active, said school adviser Deborah Handman, an English teacher.
“Kiwanis helps us with the organizations and gives us direction for things to do in the community,” Handman said. “It ties them to this community, and they care about it more passionately.”
The Key Club is focused on leadership, character building, caring and inclusiveness, and its members pledge to build their home, school and community while serving their nation and God and combating all forces that tend to undermine those institutions.
“We help out wherever we can,” said Key Club President Brandon Moran. The organization does more, though.
“It’s really helping me come out of my shell,” said Moran, who moved to Sweet Home from Texas six years ago. “It’s opened the door to my future.”
“It’s also really social,” said Julie Morgan, secretary. “Those two (other members) have become my really good friends.”
“Community service is how you get connected to your community,” said senior Candalynn Johnson, Key Club vice president. Through community service, students can get to know people, and that helps the students later as they look for work, especially in a small town.
The program has become more active, Johnson said. During her freshman year, the club wasn’t as active, just working the blood drive and Jamboree. And, she said, she wasn’t as involved as she is today.
“Junior year, I started to apply myself to things and found how fun it was,” Johnson said.
Johnson, 18, has already joined the Kiwanis Club.
“I wanted to stay involved,” she said. She plans to attend Linn-Benton Community College and continue living in Sweet Home.