By Thalib Razi
<[email protected]>

On Dec. 2, Key Club will take club pictures at 10:20 a.m. in the varsity gym, and by the end of the year all members must have their required hours of community service for the club.

“(For) this year, they need 50 hours of community service. They should be at 25 by now,” said co-sponsor Katie Gray. “If not, they should think about some group activities.”

Sophomore Shokhi Goel said, “I have…seven or eight hours right now. I’ll probably go to as many carnivals as I can, do some retirement home visits, and I’ll donate some clothes and books for those drives. Oh, and I’ll probably go bell ringing.”

The Key Club will start ringing the bells for the Salvation Army right after Thanksgiving break, according to Gray.

The students will stand in the cold outside the Wal-Mart in Westfield, the O’Malia’s on Grey Road, the O’Malia’s on 136th Street and the Kroger in Carmel, ringing their bells to raise funds for the poor of Hamilton County and Indianapolis.

“Bell ringing is fantastic because it raises money for people in our own community,” Gray said.

The club members can also earn group hours by ushering at the Central Indiana Dance Ensemble’s performance of “The Nutcracker,” showing from Dec. 5 to 7.

At the end of every month, the club organizes a “faculty appreciation day” for a certain department in the school, so students may bring in snacks and drinks for credit as well.

“We’re also doing a continuous book drive for IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools) students,” Gray said.

The number and type of books affects the amount of hours earned from the donations, according to Gray, and students can bring in picture books, chapter books, encyclopedias or dictionaries.

“In IPS, a lot of kids are two years behind in reading…(the book drive) provides them with reading beyond their level,” Gray said.

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BY THE NUMBERS

Key Club members need to complete:

• 50 hours of community service throughout the school year

• At least 25 group hours are needed to ensure membership

KATIE GRAY / SOURCE