WARD MELVILLE HIGH SCHOOL EDITION

IN THIS NEWSLETTER!
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= Junior High Service Projects"

= Kiwanis Movie Day "
= Yankee Candle Fundraiser"
= Holiday Float Building w/
Kiwanis & Setauket Light
Parade"
= Soup Kitchen Visit"
= WISH-A-THON "

""

I pledge, on my honor, to uphold the

objects of Key Club International; to
build my home, school and
community; to serve my nation and
God; and to combat all forces which
tend to undermine these institutions

DECEMBER PART 2 2014

YOUR KEY CLUB

BOARD 2014/2015!

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Lieutenant Governor:!
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Christine Shen!
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President:!
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Kyra Durko!
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Vice Presidents:!
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Ashley Earl!
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Kristina Chu!
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Erin Mc Sweeney!
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Secretary:!
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Shannon Dalton!
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Treasurer:!
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Donna Yu!
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Editor:!
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Nicole DOnofrio!
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Webmaster:!
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Connor Meehan

JUNIOR HIGH SERVICE MEETING: STATIONS

At our last junior high school meeting, the 9th grade Key Clubbers took part in helping
ourcommunity by completing numerous service projects that promoted the well being
of people in the community. The six total service projects that Key Clubbers
participated in were writing letters for the Save the Rain Foundation, writing letters to
Santa for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, writing letters to our local congressman
advocating the Positivity Project, writing holiday letters to Sunrise Assisted Living
Home, and making pillows for the Children's Miracle Network Hospital (one of Key
Clubs district charities). Letters sent through the Save the Rain Foundation were
written to be sent to children in Africa,along with the money that was raised to create
systems that would provide clean water for villages. The other annual event that Key
Club participated in is Macy's letters to Santa. For every letter we create, Macy's
gives one dollar to the Make-a-Wish Foundation; however, the day we sent our letters,
each letter was worth two dollars. So in result, the 300+ letters we wrote at the junior
high and high school meetings equated to over $600 donated to the Make-a-Wish
Foundation. Another service project we did at the meeting was write letters to our local
congressman Lee Zeldin. In these letters we discussed our Positivity Project, which
advocates for children with mental illness and works to promote self-confidence in
children. The December meeting was packed with great opportunities to help our
community and truly make a difference around the world."
- Natalie DOnofrio

KIWANIS MOVIE DAY: !

FUNDRAISER
FOR KAMP KIWANIS
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On December 28th, the Ward

Melville Key Club helped out our
local Kiwanis and participated in
their movie day. Tickets for a
movie, drink, and popcorn were
sold to our members and on the
day of the event, they could see
any movie the want at PJ
Cinemas. Most importantly though,
a portion of the proceeds went towards Kamp Kiwanis. This organization gives the
opportunity for underprivileged students to attend a camp where they engage in fun
outdoor activities, learning workshops, and sports. "

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Y AN
C A N

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K E E
D L E

FUNDRAISER!

THE YANKEE CANDLE

FUNDRAISER IS ONE OF TWO
FUNDRAISERS WE DO THROUGHOUT
THE SCHOOL YEAR. THEY ARE SO
IMPORTANT TO OUR CLUB BECAUSE THE
MONEY WE EARN GOES TOWARDS
FUNDING ONE OF OUR BIGGEST AND
MOST SUCCESSFUL EVENTS OF THE
WHOLE YEAR: SENIOR CITIZEN PROM.
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN A TRADITION AT
WARD MELVILLE FOR YEARS AND THE
MONEY GAINED FROM THIS FUNDRAISER
WILL GO TOWARDS CREATING AN
EXTREMELY MEMORABLE NIGHT FOR
MEMBERS OF OUR LOCAL SENIOR
CITIZEN HOMES. THE HIGH SCHOOL WILL
BE BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED LIKE A
PROM AND THE SENIOR CITIZENS ENJOY
A NIGHT OF DINNER AND DANCING,
HOSTED BY WMHS KEY CLUBBERS. WE
APPRECIATE THE HARD WORK AND
FUNDRAISING EFFORTS OF OUR
MEMBERS! THE NEARLY $3,000 RAISED
WILL HELP FUND AN INCREDIBLE NIGHT
THAT BOTH YOU AND THE SENIOR
CITIZENS WILL NOT FORGET!!

The
best way to find yourself
is to lose yourself
in the service
of others.

DO YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN WRITING

ARTICLES FOR EITHER THE WARD MELVILLE
KEY CLUB NEWSLETTER OR THE DIVISION 3
NEWSLETTER?"

"

CONTACT EITHER NDONOFRIO10@YAHOO.COM

OR CHRISTINESHEN.LTG@NYDKC.ORG FOR
MORE INFORMATION AND ASSIGNMENTS

HOLIDAY FLOAT BUILDING WITH KIWANIS

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Holiday float building with Kiwanis
is
an annual tradition that is
"certainly
a favorite of our club
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members. Every year, we meet up

on a Saturday morning to enjoy hot chocolate and donuts with our local Kiwanians,
while decorating our club float for the Setauket Light Parade. We string garland and
hang wreathes along a giant float, then decorate it with glowing candy canes and
lights. The preparation took place just shortly before the holiday at the Biongiorno
Landscaping warehouse on December 13, 2014. Holiday decorating didnt stop here
though. Key Clubbers traveled to the end of the float route in Setauket and decorated
the park across the road with colorful lights and garland. Although it was chilly
outside, Key Clubbers stuck it out and made the holiday brighter our the community!
"

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After the hard work members put SETAUKET LIGHT PARADE WITH KIWANIS
in decorating our holiday float
with Kiwanis and stringing lights
at the end of the parade route, it was time for the event to start! On December 14,
2014, Key Clubbers and Kiwanians met up in Setauket, with the float of course, to
walk in the parade together. One of our members dressed up as the grinch and we
rode through the parade singing holiday songs. It was a great opportunity for junior
high and high school students to bond at an event and enjoy the festivities. The
Setauket Light Parade is an annual event that nearly all community organizations take
a part in. We were glad to be able to have a spot in the parade and take part in such a
loved community event that really brings everyone closer together.

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HOLIDAY DINNER AT ST. JAMES RC CHURCH SOUP KITCHEN

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On December 21, 2014, the Ward Melville High School Key Club visited the St.
James RC Churchs soup kitchen to assist with a number of holiday plans. First,
members arrived at the soup kitchen extra early to wrap presents collected by
Kiwanis. We spent a couple hours organizing presents that would be given out to
families at dinner time. The next
step was helping with dinner.
Members worked in the soup
kitchen pantry, set-up for dinner,
served, and brought a little holiday
cheer to those who needed it most.
The best part of all though, was
handing out our perfectly wrapped
presents. The smiles on each
childs face when they opened up a
new Christmas present was
priceless. Key Clubbers truly made
a difference this holiday season and
the five hours of service were
tremendously worthwhile.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING CONFERENCE:

MARCH 27-29, 2015!

DISTINGUISHED KEY CLUBBER APP DUE:!

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

FAMILY GAME NIGHT:!

FEBRUARY 28, 2015

COMING
SOON DATES
TO REMEMBER!

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WISH-A-THON FOR MAKE-A-WISH!

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From January 12th-January 23rd, the Ward Melville High School Key Club
hosted an unfamiliar, yet very exciting event: Wish-A-Thon sponsored by the
Make-A-Wish Foundation. During these two weeks, we agreed to fundraise for
a young boy with terminal illness to be granted a wish. In cooperation with the
Make-A-Wish foundation and other schools across Long Island, we held an
event that would raise funds to contribute to granting Rushawns wish of
visiting Disney World with his family. !

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The idea of a Wish-A-Thon started off with a group of seven volunteer

student pledgers. Each student pledged to complete a crazy challenge if the
most money was raised in their name. For example, as a pledger, I agreed to
dress up in my old Mary Poppins Halloween costume if the most money was
donated, in request to see my challenge. Other challenges included the
following: dressing up in a banana costume, wearing wedding dresses,
speaking in Russian for a full day, giving out free hugs, dressing up in all
white and being drawn on with markers, and dressing up as Danny from
Grease and serenading lunch tables. !

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Members signed up during their lunch periods to run a Make-A-Wish table with
collection jars in the cafeteria/commons for two weeks. The table had flyers
with each students pledge, information about the cause, and collection
containers. The enthusiasm of our members was one of the key components
of this fundraiser. Key Clubbers went around to lunch tables promoting their
friends challenge and collecting spare change for the pledge they wanted to
see completed the most. !

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The event entailed significant planning and promoting, but the effort of our
members made the event possible! Posters for each pledger were created and
taped all around the school by members. A large banner made at one of our
club meetings was hung in the cafeteria for everyone to see. Additionally,
students did a great job talking up the event and encouraging their friends to
volunteer, pledge, or donate. !

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Students are still anticipating the outcome of the event and wondering how
much money was raised in total. All of the challenges provided strong
incentive for people to donate and it will be very interesting to see shortly who
will have to complete their challenge. Results will be announced shortly!!

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