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Although we might not always realize it, a sense of community within one’s life, whether that be big or small, has the potential to create life-altering change. A variety of factors throughout one’s life, schools, community, family, and relationships, all contribute to the creation of an individual’s identity and along with this, their sense of purpose. At Clifton High School, this is known no better than by the members of the Key Club, a program dedicated to serving the community.
The Clifton High School Key Club is one of the thousands that exist across forty-five countries. Committed to promoting volunteerism, compassion, and leadership skills, Key Club encourages its members to devote their time to service, whether that be through food and clothing drives, book and toy collections, hospital donations, or fundraisers. Throughout their time with Key Club, members will likely participate in a myriad of activities and events planned by the organization to better their community. As CHS student and President of the Clifton Key Club, Mariam Gebril stated, “You name it, we’ve done it.” Donning their signature Key Club tee-shirts, they work with residents from all walks of life, from children in St, Joseph’s suffering from medical conditions to middle school students, teaching them about leadership and service to the elderly delivering meals through the Power of One organization. To Gebril, “Key Club is love…love is giving back, love is service, love is caring,” and Key Club provides an outlet for students to display that love to their community.
Aside from the connections the organization creates throughout schools and towns, a family exists within the Key Club organization as well. The Key Club is a branch, along with other programs such as Builders Club and Circle K International, of the larger, Kiwanis parent organization. In their own way, each branch is dedicated to improving the lives of the people in one’s community through education and service. Specifically, Key Club is devoted to not only serving, but to providing opportunities for members to build leadership skills, expand upon their character, and gain real-world experience. Throughout a school year, Key Club completes well over 1,000 hours of volunteer work around Clifton, with members likely to be found most days performing acts of service under the club’s name. Students can be found at local parks working with P.R.A.I.S.E Baseball (an organization that provides opportunities for children with intellectual and/or physical challenges to play baseball), outside of Stop and Shop asking for food donations, or even painting faces at the annual Clifton Recreation Bunny Bash.
The impacts of this club go beyond that of Clifton High School, and far, far beyond Clifton. At its core, Key Club is about encouraging the younger generations to not only become involved in their community but invested in it as well- passionate, even. As Gebril said, to care is to love, and to love is to care. Gebril’s ultimate hope for the club is to “instill that love to give back to people…to spark that light,” ensuring that Key Club and all of its efforts remain a stable force in the community…ensuring that the youth become active participants in their society, making the world a better place one act of kindness at a time.
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For more information about Key Club, you can email the advisors and president here:
Mrs. Turk: JTurk@cliftonschools.net
Mr. O’Reilly: joreilly@cliftonschools.net
Mariam Gebril: 114160@cliftonschools.net
