Key and Builders clubs provides opportunities for Kirkland youth

The Kirkland Kiwanis Club continues its focus series on the Key and Builders clubs in the Kirkland community.

October 31, 2013 5:04 pm
Key Club
Key Club

The Kirkland Kiwanis Club continues its focus series on the Key and Builders clubs in the Kirkland community.

Key Club is an international student-led organization that Kiwanis supports. The club provides young members with opportunities to develop core values, such as leadership, character building and experience in living and working together within their schools and neighborhoods.

Students perform acts of service in the community, such as park clean up, food drives, fundraising and volunteer support to Kiwanis Club projects. They learn leadership and social skills by organizing and running meetings, planning projects and hold elected leadership positions within their club.

The Key Club at Lake Washington High School, organized more than 25 years ago, currently has more than 90 members.

Club president Schyler Duryee is well-supported by her fellow officers and other club members. Mark Shinstrom has been the school’s Key Club advisor for 26 years. Carol Pulliam recently joined him as advisor. Both are Lake Washington High School graduates and each has a long history with Kiwanis.

This club is already very active this school year. They have completed a canned food drive for Hopelink, they are making blankets for Children’s Hospital, trick-or-treating on Halloween for UNICEF and will be assisting with park clean up at Everest Park on Nov. 2.

They also collect change for the “Pennies for Patients” program benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and are excited to be part of the “Trauma Dolls” program for Children’s Hospital. The school’s Key Club also supports Kiwanis Club activities in Kirkland, including the annual Christmas Tree Lot, Memorial Weekend Pancake Breakfast for KITH, the 4th of July Parade and Easter Egg Hunt.

Key Club members are leadership- and philanthropy-minded youth who take these skills with them into adulthood. If you are interested in learning more about the Kiwanis Key Club or Builder’s Club in your area, visit Kirkland.kiwanis.org or contact your local middle school or high school for more information.