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Division 4 East Key Club

On November 16, 2013, The November DCM was held at the OC Food Bank. All of D04E gathered at the Orange County Food Bank where we packed food boxes for the hungry families in Orange County. Majority of the time we were put on box cleaning duty, which means cutting and compacting empty cardboard boxes, it wasn’t packing food, but it was still tons of fun and we were still able to lend a helping hand to the Orange County Food Bank for a few hours. Meeting new people, talking with friends, and helping the hungry was an amazing experience.

This event is something done annually and I’m so grateful we are able to help other families in the Thanksgiving spirit. I look forward to the future events held with the Orange County Food Bank.

Ashley Do | DIVISION 4 East | Canyon High School

November DCM

District Gov, Victoria Lai folding boxes (left) Kevin Lai and Tiffany Ngo taping the boxes together (Left Bottom) Andrew Yoo, Kevin Nguyen, and Alyssa Nguyen Cheering!

Club Happenings

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Before Thanksgiving break began, CHS Key Club visited the Retirement home for our monthly visit! This time, the home was decoratedwith cute little pumpkins, leaves, and turkey dolls! We even saw a walker thatwas covered in the colors orange, brown, and yellow;typical Thanksgiving colors. Overall, the atmosphere was very cheerful and full of holiday spirit.

The day before our visit, we had a small event where we made cute little cards that we would pass out to the elderly the next day. The smiles on their faces when they saw the cards were truly amazing. It was definitely a sight to be remembered. Like usual, we began making the mood by conversing with the elderly and asking them if they had any plans for Thanksgiving. We then moved on to playing Pictionary where we drew foods and other things one would usually see on Thanksgiving. Leaving behind many smiles and many thanks, our monthly visit joyfully came to an end.

Victoria Doan | DIVISION 04E | Canyon High School

Key Clubbers woke up bright and early to venture out into the wild at Santiago Park Nature Reserve to assist the nature program “Back to Natives Restoration” in removing invasive weeds in the area. These weeds do not belong in the environment and must be regularly removed to ensure the ecosystem is in balance and harmony. Restorers began the day by checking in with their respective schools. Afterwards they began learn-ing about invasive weeds in the environment and why they are harmful to the ecosystems they are introduced to. They learned about the what to pull and how to pull. Soon, restorers put on their garden-ing gloves and were given their directions worked for a couple of hours. Members were warned to be especially careful, due to the rocky terrain of the nature reserve. After their 3 hours of service, the restorers were able to see their impact on the reserve. From afar the ground was not ridden with weeds, but were abundant with the native plants that originally filled the nature reserve.

JEFFREY CRUZ | DIVISION 4EAST | KEY CLUB

“Happy Holidays!” from Key Club

“Thank you for being you; Key Club wishes you a happy holiday season!” Key Clubbers at Beckman High School passed out messages such as these, emblazoned on slips of paper attached to peppermint candy canes. The clarion call of the lunch bell summoned a good number of orange-shirted volunteers to our advisor’s room. Boxes of candy canes were ready to be ripped open, their contents ready to be affixed to a red solo cup and piece of paper. Each Key Clubber received five candy canes in a red solo cup, and their mission as they chose to accept it was to hand out the five candy canes to five random people during lunchtime. Many of us came back for more; there was always someone that could use some holiday cheer. We distributed candy canes until there were none left—until the point at which we could all pose for a group photo with an empty candy cane box in each of our arms. People’s face lit up in appreciation; it was the highlight of the lunchtime to see someone’s face perk up in ecstatic delight with the reminder that, they too, deserved to be happy during the holiday season. For Key Clubbers, this project was an exercise in empathy—it being no easy task to approach someone they might not necessarily have known. In California, when we deem the weather especially cold, it is actually just windy, parts of the Cali-Nev-Ha District obviously posing exception to this rule. We may have not had snow, but warmth was to be cherished in whatever form it came in—candy canes not exempted.

Kevin Chu|Division 4E |13 December 2013

Club Happenings

We Give Thanks – Giving to Southern California Families

On Saturday night, November 23rd Give Thanks’ Event. When all of the OCSA members gathered up, we began entering the Anaheim Convention Center, where the event was being held. Looking around, we saw many other Key Clubbers, as well as various other volunteers from nonprofit organizations. We formed a line and were handed ‘We Give Thanks’ t-shirts, aprons, and pairs of gloves. For the first half an hour, there were so many people that had come to volunteer the organizers ran out of jobs to give us! This of course was not a major problem, however many of us were so eager to get our hands on some cilantro or bell peppers to cut up. Eventually, the majority of us were given our first task as volunteers. One of the head volunteers led us to a table stacked with cutting boards, knives, and dozens of cloves of garlic. Our job was to crack, peal, and mince the garlic into smaller pieces that would later be used in the kitchen to make Thanksgiving dishes. We were grouped with other volunteers and quickly made friends with them as we peeled our garlic and began chopping them up. Every couple of minutes one of the head volunteers would come to our tables and gather up the already minced garlic, constantly praising us for our volun-teer efforts and “exceptional garlic chopping skills.” For the last half an hour, it was time for us to clean up our garlic-juiced cutting boards and garlic-skinned knives. There were four major group tasks that were occurring at this time. The first group was to gather the dirty knives and cutting boards, which were later passed onto the second group who washed the utensils and boards. A third group was made to wipe down the tables and sanitize the counters and the last group swept the floors of all the garlic skins and bits that had fallen on the ground. At the end of the day, the garlic smelling volunteers were thanked for their community service and began heading home. This was the first time I volunteered at an event that prepared meals for the homeless, and it was an enjoyable experience. Knowing that I was preparing components that would later be made into delicious Thanksgiving meals for the homeless was a warming feeling. I also could not have made it through the entire garlic peeling/cutting session, without the people next to me who were all here for the same reason – to give thanks on this Thanksgiving holiday.

Susun Le

Education!

DCON is coming up sooner than you think, so make sure you don’t forget to sign up for the contest! While some contests are automatic entries, others, such as club, and officer awards require submissions!

Before you forget, go onto CnhKeyClub.org and check out the awesome new checklist that highlights what is needed for your award category!

Many of the awards need to be planned ahead of time, so it would be best to get a head start.

Good luck to all of you!

-Jennifer Tran | division 4 east

Here is a list of Awards you can win:

Automatic Entry

Achieved Increased MembershipDistinquished Club Report FormClub Secretary District TreeDistrict Project Division NewsletterDivision News Editor District TreeGovernor's ProjectKiwanis FamilyMembership RetentionMost Improved DivisionOverall Division ExcellenceSpiritWebsite

Officers

PresidentSecretaryTreasurerVice President

Clubs

Club Attire Club NewsletterClub of the YearClub PosterClub VideoMost Improved ClubYear in Review

Members

Member of the YearSandy NiningerTalent

Service

Major EmphasisSingle Service