Key Club International, founded in 1925, is a multinational organization that provides high schoolers with an opportunity to serve their communities, build character and develop leadership. Currently, Key Club has over 251,000 members in 40 different countries. This school year, a local Key Club chapter was founded at PVHS by juniors Ishika Desai, Nishita Gudipati and Tiffany Ku.
This club’s main mission is to provide students with service learning and leadership opportunities as well as encouraging participation in various school and community projects. “At PV, everyone is required to complete service learning hours. We noticed that some kids struggle to find opportunities to make their hours meaningful, so we began Key Club to help kids who wanted to make an impact on the community,” Gudipati explained.
Key Club has recruited many members this year. With a diverse array of available activities, anyone and everyone can find a place to fit in. Freshman Sashwat Choudhary joined the Key Club this year because of this inclusivity. “I walked into the club fair not knowing which clubs I wanted to join. Key Club caught my attention because they were not limited. Their main focus was to help out the community in any way possible, and this fit with what I wanted to do,” Choudhary said.
So far, the local Key Club chapter has helped organize volunteers for the QC Marathon to assist with setup and other miscellaneous activities at the race. This event also served as an exciting collaboration with the Bettendorf Key Club. l. “This was our first event as a club, and it was awesome being able to work with Bettendorf’s club as well. It was amazing to see both of our schools come together to serve the community in a unique way,” Gudipati said.
The QC marathon was just the beginning for Key Club. The team has many other projects on their horizon, including arranging after school care at local elementary schools and setting up fundraising projects to help with further events. Key club also offers different awards and scholarships to the active and registered members of the club.
As Key Club continues to grow and make an impact at PVHS and beyond, it continues to bring students together through service projects and collaboration. Meetings are held every Wednesday at 7:30 in room 267 for those interested in making a lasting impact on the community!
