Kiwanis Empowering Youth club [KEY club] was created for students who want to help the community.  Every year KEY club holds an event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a way to serve the community. This year, they decided to give back by working at the Lawrence Interdenominational Nutritional Kitchen [LINK] at Salvation Army and serving food to people who can’t afford it.

“We made spaghetti, garlic bread, and some other foods to give back,” junior co-president of KEY club Hannah Stone said. “We served over 75 members of the community that way.”

Many kinds of 

community members were served food by KEY club members including people experiencing homelessness and financial issues and even children.

“It was sad because we had kids coming through,” junior co-president of KEY club Lady Ortega-Perez said. “I personally feel that we as a society shouldn’t have kids being homeless, it was really eye opening.”

According to Ortega-Perez,  the group’s overall mission to serve the community was successful.

“Our main goal was just to do service,” Ortega-Perez said “We are all aware that we have a big issue with homelessness, especially in Lawrence.”

10 year long KEY club sponsor and special education teacher Jacob Larson said that being a member of KEY club requires a desire to help  others, which was seen through their volunteering at the LINK.

“It does a really good job of building empathy, and understanding and learning ways to connect with different people in your community,” Larson said.