Club spotlight: Key Club teaching altruism
Key Club is a student-led organization whose goal is to encourage leadership through serving others, according to Wikipedia. Bergan High School’s Key Club consists of 25 members between the 10th-12th grades, with Tessa Kreikemeier (12) as a President, Reagan Toelle (12) as a Vice-President, and Meghan Dahlhauser (12) as a secretary.
To join the organization applicants are required to write a few things about themselves, how they are going to contribute to the club along with a small fee. The collected fee is used throughout the year by helping others in and out of our community.
In the past year, Key Club helped with the elementary festivals, setting up a Christmas tree, collecting a "rice bowl," which is a box for change that is used to send food and necessities to those who need help. In December, they collect shoeboxes filled with small toys, dolls, and school supplies to send it to the kids who were affected by wars outside of the United States between ages 2-14. In October, Key Club members have collected canned food for homeless people. The organization has also started off with a great accomplishment with succeeding in gathering $277.10 individually for the Hurricane Relief Fund to help those impacted in Florida by the storms, which totaled of $554.20 that Bergan collected as a whole.
Meghan Dahlhauser (12), the secretary of Bergan's Key Club, has recently applied for Fremont's Youth Philanthropy Contest with “Split Success.” According to the Fremont Area Community Foundation, the winner of the contest receives a $1000 grant for ideas that have a positive impact in the community. The requirements for the grant money is that the project is completed in nine months, takes place in our grant-making area, charitable in nature, and engages young people in philanthropy.
Bergan will split the grant in half. The first $500 will be used for tie blankets, which will be made by the Key Club members. The blankets will then be sent to children and adults at Care Corp to prepare for winter. The second $500 will be used for the Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) for the kids’ recess in winter. Due to the coldness, children at the ECEC don’t get to go outside. So, Meghan Dahlhauser came up with the idea of providing the center with things, such as puzzles, board games, etc. to entertain the children during recess time. There are multiple steps for the grant, starting with a pre-application, then a regular application, followed by a three-month and six-month report, and there is also a final report. As soon as FACF accepts Bergan’s pre-application, Key Club will continue with the next step- an application of detailed information about the use of the money.
