North Shore Key Club Responds to Haiti’s Call for Aid
By Charles Sharkey
On January 12, 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Haiti. With over 72,000 dead and a demolished infrastructure, the Haitian population was in desperate need of aid. In response to this, the North Shore Key Club quickly launched a two pronged plan of attack. The first part involved allying with other clubs in our school, including the Interact Club and Amnesty International, to launch a school wide effort. As part of this newly founded coalition, members from all three organizations manned a donation table, where students and faculty could donate to the organization Doctors without Borders. Together, we raised over $800 for this organization through donations alone!
The second phase of the project involved raising money for relief efforts by holding a bake sale. In hopes of raising more money, we decided that the club would tie its bake sale in with the rapidly approaching Valentine’s Day. When this project was proposed to the club, it received unanimous support on all levels. A myriad of members signed up to both bring in baked goods as well as sell on their off periods. After holding a democratic vote, it was decided that the benefactor would be Bush Clinton Haiti Fund. Overall the event was a success and the club was happy to help. It just goes to show you what can be accomplished when people come together for a common cause.
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Tutoring at St. Christopher’s: A Homework Club is Actually Fun
For the past three years, many Key Club members have volunteered their time, one hour a week, helping the children at the St. Christopher-Ottilie Home. With our sponsoring Kiwanis club, we go to the St. Christopher’s Home to help the children that live there with their homework or help them improve their reading and math skills. The St. Christopher-Ottilie Home, part of the Family of Services, takes in mentally challenged and physically challenged children when they do not have anyone to take care of them. With help from the North Shore High School Key Club and North Shore Kiwanis, the students at St. Christopher’s are benefited from the extra help in their studies, and also able to meet someone, who quickly becomes their friend. The children are so excited to see you come and be with them once a week, and it is amazing to see how happy these children are that you gave them your full attention. The tutoring program at St. Christopher’s is one of our Key Club’s biggest projects, and it continues to grow and succeed with every year. Our Homework Club at St. Christopher’s shows that it can actually be fun to do some homework! Imagine that!
- Kelly LaMattina, North Shore High School
