Since the Cape Coral High School Key Club recently lost 90 members due to graduation earlier this month, the organization is seeking interested individuals who want to become a member and help the community through various activities.
Cape Coral High School Key Club’s Editor Alexandra Matos, 15, said the group is now down to 10 members because of all the seniors who graduated.
She became a member of the Key Club when she was a freshman.
Matos will enter her junior year at Cape Coral High School in August.
“I like it because of the variety of things we do and it is fun to get your friends involved,” Matos said about the club.
Key Club Vice President Samantha Fox, 17, joined the club when she was a sophomore. She will be a member of the club for three years once she starts her senior year at Cape Coral High School in August.
“I enjoy the smiles I get from people all around the community when I help them with a project, or touched their lives in even the smallest ways,” Fox said about why she enjoys being a member. “I have gained such a passion for volunteering that I know I’ll be continuing throughout my life.”
Fox said the club hopes to begin working with nursing homes and the Ronald McDonald house in the near future, in addition to the organizations it already help like the Eliminate project, the Children’s Miracle Network and Cape Coral Special Populations.
Although the club is more active during the school year, the members continue to volunteer at events during the summer.
“We are always a lot of fun,” Matos said about the volunteer work done all around Cape Coral and Fort Myers.
Matos said the club does more than just clean up the city, it volunteers in a variety of activities.
Some of those activities include providing assistance in hanging Halloween and Christmas decorations and serving food for the Cape Coral Special Populations dances, hosting the Cape Coral haunted walk and helping out with the kids’ attractions at the Festival of Lights.
With the upcoming school year around the corner, the new officers have fresh ideas on how to gain and maintain members for the club, be a part of different events and provide opportunities for the club members to gain volunteer hours.
“We not only want new members, but want these members to realize the true importance of helping out our community,” Fox said. “The passion and love that develops from volunteering will shine through our club and change the lives of people around us from unwavering service.”
More members, Fox said, will give the club the opportunity to help more people in the community.
“A larger amount of members in our Key Club will benefit our mission by providing more opportunities for them to volunteer,” she said. “With more members, the officers would feel more comfortable creating more events each month from the confidence that members will attend.”
Liz Kominar, Cape Coral High School Key Club advisor, said they ask students who are interested in joining the club to attend a meeting and join one or two events to see what the club is all about.
“Once they have decided to join, we then ask them to complete a simple form, pay the $11 dues that is required by Key Club International and within the next five months accumulate 25 Key Club community service hours,” she said.
In addition, Kominar said they require all of the club members to purchase a Key Club T-shirt, so when they attend events they can show that they represent Cape Coral High School and the Kiwanis Club.
Those who are interested in joining the club can reach Kominar by email at ekominar@embarqmail.com.
Bruce Boyd, Division 19 Kiwanis Lieutenant Governor, said there are 13 Key Clubs in his division, which includes Lee County, LaBelle and Hendry County. He said they have more key clubs than any other division in the state of Florida.
Boyd said he has met the Cape Coral High School Key Club members several times at the district club meetings that are held.
“There are some fantastic youth out there,” he said about the active Key Clubs in his district.
Cape Coral High School and East Lee County High School were honored with the Diamond Level Distinguished Club Award at the statewide convention in Orlando. The award was only given to seven clubs in Florida for outstanding service, leadership and commitment to Key Club initiatives.
“We are real proud of our Key Clubs,” Boyd said
Matos said that Cape Coral High School has the most prestigious Key Club in Southwest Florida and she hopes to keep it that way.
Due to the prestigious standing of the club, Matos said they get to go to the yearly statewide convention in Orlando for free. She said the convention is fun because you have the opportunity to meet kids from all over Florida who are also members of the club.
“It is kind of like a giant pep rally for four days,” Matos said, because everyone shares ideas.
The convention also gives them an opportunity to raise money for worldwide projects.
Boyd said there are currently 18,000 Key Club members in Florida, which out numbers the amount of Kiwanis members.
The first Key Club began in Sacramento, Calif., in 1925 with 11 charter members.