By Rebecca Strauss
Special to Inside
On the Saturday morning of Oct. 15, 40 teenagers gave up their sleep to raise money for the Katrina Relief effort and to support their club. These high school students are part of Key Club at Lincoln Park High School.
Key Club is a branch of Kiwanis that works as a club in high schools. Its motto is "Caring—Our Way of Life." Many people know of Kiwanis International from its annual peanut sale every year. According to the Kiwanis Web site, Key Club is the largest service organization for high school students, with 234,000 members. Lincoln Park's branch has about 60 members. Last year, the Lincoln Park Key Club sold bracelets, inspired by Lance Armstrong's Livestrong campaign, to raise money for Tsunami Relief. Zlatena Stankova, the club's president, has high hopes for this year.
On that October morning, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the students and their faculty advisors, Carolin Colon and Jeanne Freed, served pancakes to fellow students, faculty, and neighborhood shoppers at the nearby farmers' market. There were all-you-can-eat chocolate chip and plain pancakes, sausages, orange juice, milk, and coffee. Teamwork was evident everywhere, as the teenagers worked as hosts and hostesses, waiters and waitresses, cooks, and bus people.
On Thanksgiving morning, that same group of teenagers volunteered at Truman College serving Thanksgiving dinner to people who had no other place to go. Here, these dedicated teenagers served food and also offered people clothes for the cold winter ahead. |
