Submitted by Paul Danenberg
The Chatham High School Key Club was very busy this year! The teen volunteers of Chatham have been working for all sorts of causes this year, and they have made a noticeable impact on the community.
Even if you didn’t know about Key Club and what they do, you have probably seen them in action and not even realized it. Events such as the Chatham Farmers Market are fueled by the energy of Chatham Key Club members, who help set up and take down the market as well as answer customers’ questions and help the vendors.
The Chatham Key Club does a lot with the Borough through its involvement with the Junior Volunteer League for the Chatham Borough. This fabulous organization is behind the Farmers Market (June – November), Fishawack Festival (June), and Spring Clean (May). This year, 37 CHS students, from Key Club and the general student body, helped at the Fishawack Festival by running carnival games, assisting with set up, and helping event participants at the information booth. Additionally, about fifteen Key Clubbers help out at the Spring Clean every year. Besides Chatham Borough events, the Key Club also assisted with school plays, concession sales, events at the Chatham Senior Center, and various other community events throughout the school year.
CHS Key Club’s biggest impact on the community this year has been their Outreach meal-packing event, which was held in April 2018. This event was a collaboration involving CHS Key Club members and Chatham residents, as well as members of Chatham Kiwanis. In order to be able to hold this event, the Key Club had to raise $14,000. To raise this money, Chatham Key Club held many fundraiser events from September 2017 to March 2018. These included the Moana Family Movie Night, Chatham Burlap Print Sales, Hot Chocolate and Bake Sales at the Chatham Farmers Market, and much more! At the event, over one hundred people of various ages worked together to create an end product of fifty-thousand meals through hard work in assembly lines throughout the course of a day.
Paul Danenberg, the Chairman for the Junior Volunteer League for the Chatham Borough, as well as the president of CHS Key Club come September, was this year’s Outreach organizer. He was one of the main forces behind all of the fundraisers, as well as the coordinator of the actual Outreach program process. He says, “Whether it be buying supplies for a hot chocolate sales or collecting tickets at our annual movie night, every CHS Key Clubber stepped up to do their part. They are always ready to step in when help is needed and most of them go way over the Key Club’s minimum volunteer hour requirements.”
Interested in doing your part to help the community? You can help by having your business donate to the Outreach Program, or by participating in Outreach or attending one of the fundraisers that are planned for the coming year! The goal for next year is to raise $17,250 for the April 2019 Annual Outreach Event. Of the money that will be raised by Key Club, $7,250 will be spent to make 25,000 packaged meals and $10,000 will go to local food banks, where the money will be used to buy produce, meat, and products that have a shorter shelf life than the packaged meals that the Outreach Program creates. Be on the lookout for some exciting fundraisers from the CHS Key Club! On the agenda? A car wash, holiday cookie sale, Luminaria sales, gift-wrapping at local businesses, snow removal, Dunkin’ Donuts Sale, a Family Movie Night, and much more! If you have questions about the Key Club’s Outreach program or are looking for Key Club volunteers to help out with YOUR event, please contact Paul Danenberg at pbdanenberg@gmail.com.
