Washington Evening Journal
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High school students volunteer with Key Club
By Winona Whitaker, Hometown Current
Nov. 30, 2023 11:03 am
WILLIAMSBURG — High school students are joining a Kiwanis Club youth organization to volunteer in the community.
Matt Moffitt, a Kiwanis member, asked the Williamsburg City Council last week to keep the new Key Club in mind if the city needs community volunteers.
Key Club is an international, student-led organization that provides opportunities for service, character building and leadership development for students, according to its mission statement.
The Key Club will extend Kiwanis philanthropy to the high school level, said Moffitt. The Williamsburg Club has 24 official members and 40 have expressed interest, he said.
Co-presidents of the new club are Isabella Maser and Lorelai Wehner. Kadie Reed and Aubrey Sinn are vice presidents; Reagan McMenomy and Crew Klingner serve as secretaries; and Hannah Dietze and Sam Schesselman are treasurers.
As an adviser for the Key Club, Moffitt is helping students raise funds. They’ll conduct bake sales at the elementary school holiday concerts Dec. 5, 7 and 12.
Students will wrap gifts at the Williamsburg Public Library and will provide activities for children while parents are having gifts wrapped.
Key Club members are organizing and publicizing the Raider food pantry and updating its Facebook page. It will help the Kiwanis Club with its Christmas tree sale, Moffitt said. The fire department has approached the club about helping with its fish fries.
The students came up with a few ways the Key Club could help “better the community,” Moffitt said. They suggested cleaning up ditches, playgrounds and parks, painting the gazebos at the parks, cleaning up the pond, raking leaves in the city, planting trees and flowers and building or assisting with free library boxes.
Moffitt asked the city to keep the Key Club in mind and to contact the students when the city has a project the high schoolers could help with.
“I just wanted you to be aware of us,” Moffitt told the council. “Let us know what you need.”