Stroudsburg

This month, our club agreed that one of our main goals was to focus much of our attention and service to helping the Toys for Tots charity organization.  Our Key Club worked this year in conjunction with Stroudsmoor Country Inn to provide a free tree lighting event for the community on December 4th, 2011.  The event benefitted Toys for Tots.  Members of our club volunteered in shifts all day, from 11 am to 7 pm, by dressing in costumes to entertain the children at the event.  Other members, also in costume, served hot chocolate, and other refreshments.  Two club members, Tuyet Bang and Shantel Burton worked as our club's liasons with Stroudsmoor, and assisted in helping to plan the event.  Members attended a costume fitting at the end of November, and then a television taping on a local new station early one morning to help to get ready for, and advertise the event.  In addition to helping with the event, our officers and members presented the $300.00 that we had raised for Toys for Tots to the charity's representative, John Dickson.  Earlier this month, on the 2nd of December, we held a school wide toy drive for Toys for Tots.  Our school has a dress code, but students who brought in a toy for our collection were able to wear sweatpants.  Our drive was called "Sweats for Santa," and we collected a total of 485 toys.  These toys were also presented to John Dickson and Toys for Tots at the Tree Lighting ceremony.  The final step in our Toys for Tots focus was helping with the annual Toys for Tots toy sorting, which took place at Tobyhanna Army Depot on December 17th.  33 of our members, as well as our advisor helped to sort the toys into age and gender groups, and then went "shopping" for families in the area in need. Members were given the ages and genders of children in each family, and had to choose and gather toys that were fitting to that child.  Our members all agreed that this was a great way to help children in need during the holiday season.  After an article about our efforts was published in our local paper, we recieved a comment from Johanna Weaver, saying that "How wonderful that our students have gotten public recognition for their community philanthropy.  I wonder if this is again a year when they should be recommended for the community philanthropy award? Congratulations to all the Kiwanis advisors and faculty who support their efforts!"