Key Club and National Honor Society (NHS) take part in community service projects and fundraisers that greatly benefit the Lafayette community. Despite having to constantly change their usual methods of performing community service because of COVID-19 restrictions, they have continued to serve the area.

Key Club member senior Kate Barnard said, “We are severely limited in the service opportunities available to us because a big part of this club is going out in the community and doing projects for others.”

Despite the circumstances, Key Club has continued to do the best it can to help as many people as possible and this year the has still participated in and led several service projects including collecting items for the Rockwood Got Your Back Program, Adopt-a-Family campaign and a letter-writing project to connect with senior citizens in the area.

Senior Taylor Wulf said, “This year has been challenging because we can’t do most of the service activities [in Key Club] we would do in a normal year like volunteering at Autumn View and other community events.”

NHS has also been forced to adapt to move forward with community service projects, but they still organized a special staff recognition event with a surprise drive-by parade for staff. They have also provided virtual tutoring and found ways to support the canned food drive, the Got Your Back Program and the Cardinal Glennon toy drive.

NHS sponsor Brian Fish said, “We will also be writing letters to servicemen and recognize our students, librarians, support staff and teachers next semester. During this challenging time, it is critical that we empathize with those around us to provide support in any way we can.”

The sponsors have also had to change many of the ways they operate the groups.

“We have facilitated our application process and meetings entirely online this year. We have not advertised events in the community on our Google Classroom page as we have in the past,” Fish said.

Though the ways NHS and Key Club have had to operate has had to change dramatically, the students involved said they find their motivation mainly in the desire to help others and give back in their community.

Junior Jacob Goodman said, “My motivation [in NHS] has been just wanting to learn more and be more academic and to try and help other people in the community.”

Key Club members try to focus on helping members of the community through acts of service.

Senior Aisha Analil said, “I was inspired to join Key Club after learning about the variety of service opportunities such as playing games with residents at Autumn View nursing home, participating in activities with children and adults at Team Activities for Special Kids (TASK) and helping out at the annual Wildwood Parade.”

Members also are realistic that their participation in the organizations looks good on college applications,

Junior Abigail Charlton said, “I feel like [NHS] is honestly a good thing to have on my high school transcript.”

Though some members initially wanted to get involved to put the organization on their college applications, many have discovered that the community service aspect is especially rewarding.

“I joined Key Club mostly for my college applications, but it turned out to be a lot more fun than expected because my friends and I could hang out while also doing good things for others,” Barnard said.

Despite all the challenges, members and sponsors from NHS and Key Club continue to be vigilant in their participation in their clubs. With so many obstacles that come along with running clubs completely virtually, it would be easy for members to give up or quit. Yet, they continue to help the community through service projects and volunteer work.

Key Club sponsor Scott Beaver said, “The student’s motivation to help others encourages me to want to continue to run Key Club. The students that really inspire me are the ones who continue to go well over their required 10 hours because they just care about helping others. There is something to be said for students who go above and beyond what is required.”