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Key Club members changing lives

The Kiwanis Educates Youth (KEY) Club at John Paul II is a community service based club that is sponsored by the local Kiwanis club. The group works closely with the Kiwanis club, and have established close relationships with the members.

The Kiwanis Educates Youth (KEY) Club at John Paul II is a community service based club that is sponsored by the local Kiwanis club.

The group works closely with the Kiwanis club, and have established close relationships with the members.

"Key Club focuses on using innovative ideas and activities to promote and raise money." said Meghan Mercer, John Paul II Key Club president.

The club's main goal is to teach youth that one act of service can change lives, she said.

John Paul II's Key Club was founded by Herb Sutton in the early 1990s. The club's members work hard to come up with new ideas to raise money and promote service to organizations on both a local and international scale. The group also participates in a number of activities within the John Paul II community, such as painting murals on the walls, raising money with the annual Walk for Life to gather participants for the Right to Life Society, ringing bells for the Empty Stocking Fund, singing Christmas carols at the Battleford's District Care Centers, meals on wheels and planting trees.

Every year, John Paul II's Key Club members attend the Western Canadian Key Club Conference that usually takes place in May. All the Key Clubs from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba get together for workshops on team building, and participate in a number of fun activities.

Meghan's roles as president is to manage the weekly meetings, encourage other students to join Key Club, as well as encourage feedback and ideas of other members, work with the teacher supervisors with organizing, and also stay up to date with what is going on with other Key Clubs all over the world.

"Key Club has been a really amazing way for me to stay grounded in my high school years as it offers a unique sense of family," said Meghan.

"It has been a real blessing to many of its members, including me, all thanks to the efforts of our teacher supervisors Mr. Dennis Mercer, Mr. Dave McQuaid and Ms. Michelle Lloyd. An enormous thank you must go out to them for the many hours of guidance and support they put into our club."

"Ordinary people doing extraordinary things", the Key Club's Motto, accurately describes the work the club does.