While perhaps not on the level of the NCAA Tournament, the Eastern High School Key Club’s three on three basketball tournament brings a crowd looking to have fun but also raise money for a good cause.
The annual event was held Dec. 19 and featured 16 teams made up of Viking students. Eastern Key Club is dedicated to serving many local and district-wide projects to improve the surrounding area. Service projects typically change every year, as more are added or replaced, while others remain. In addition to long-term projects, Eastern Key Club also participates in smaller one-time events throughout the school year.
Olivia Homer, a senior and editor for the club, said upon entering Eastern, she was looking to join an organization that would allow her to give back to the community. Key Club provided the perfect match.
“Key Club was exciting to me because it is a service organization that does a lot of different projects throughout the year,” Homer said. “It fit me best and has allowed me to do a lot of things. We’ve been a part of the MS Walk, the American Cancer Society Walk. I’ve been able to attend district conventions around the state and meet other Key Clubs and see what projects they are a part of. It’s been great.”
Key Club International is the high school organization sponsored by Kiwanis International. Key Club assists Kiwanis in carrying out its mission to serve the children of the world.
While the basketball tournament is the club’s largest fundraiser, Homer said the group holds events throughout the school year.
“We hold bake sale events during the year. Toward the end of the year, we have water ice week. Local companies donate water ice and we sell it. It’s definitely a popular event,” Homer said. “This is the third or fourth year we’ve done the tournament, and it’s been really popular.”
The proceeds from registration as well as food sales were donated to Kiwanis International’s The Eliminate Project. The project is a global campaign for children that aims to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. Kiwanis hopes to raise $110 million and save the lives of 129 million mothers and their future babies. In partnership with UNICEF, Kiwanis is committing by 2015 to eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus, a disease that kills one baby every nine minutes. By targeting this disease, Kiwanis will not only save lives but also pave the way for other interventions that will boost maternal health and child survival among the poorest, most underserved women and children in the world.
“Being able to work under a global organization like Kiwanis is great,” Homer said.
Kiwanis clubs are located in 80 nations and help their communities in countless ways. Kiwanis members stage nearly 150,000 service projects, devote more than 6 million hours of service and raise nearly $100 million every year for communities, families and projects. Key Club members pitch in 12 million hours of service each year.
