As the new school year begins, Carmel Key Club is preparing to recruit new members and start service projects in the area. They hosted a callout meeting on Sept. 8th and will be meeting every late start Wednesday in the Freshman Cafeteria.

David Jiang, Key Club president and senior, said that Key Club focuses heavily on service to others and is a great way to give back to the community.

“We try to make as much of an impact on the local community as possible. We partner with a lot of local organizations that do initiatives such as the Christmas toy drive down in Indianapolis to help the economically disadvantaged. We do lots of stuff with retirement homes; we have donation drives for all sorts of causes,” Jiang said. “Right now, we have somewhere around 150 members coming into the meetings, it’s a pretty big gathering. During the meetings, we talk to members for about thirty minutes about what the goals are for the week and any (service) opportunities they should be looking out for.”

According to Key Club co-sponsor Allyson Ward, Key Club is partnering with various businesses across Carmel to give students service opportunities and service hours.

“We are always trying to find new businesses to support and raise awareness for,” Ward said. “Right now, we are partnering with No Label At The Table (a bakery staffed by people on the autism spectrum) to raise awareness and funds for them. It’s a great opportunity for kids to get involved in.”