Each year, National Honor Society (NHS) sponsors a district-wide program called Adopt-A-Family, in which lower-income families from HSE schools submit wishlists and NHS distributes these lists to individuals and organizations who buy the families Christmas presents. As NHS received over 40 families this year, providing gifts for all of them required the help of numerous other clubs. One such organization was Key Club, which “adopted” a family of seven people.

Club members were encouraged to buy at least two items for anyone in the family, and they spent a majority of their meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 3 wrapping the presents. Senior Emily Clayton bought shoes and a shirt for Key Club’s family.

“I wanted to help out the less fortunate during the holiday season,” Clayton said. “It’s a great way to get involved with the community and help others.”

Key Club decided to participate in the service opportunity because of the benefits it brings to families across the school district.

“[Students] sometimes forget that people in our own community are not as fortunate as we think,” sophomore and Key Club secretary Sarah Ali said. “Especially since we had the members get involved in wrapping the gifts, they got to see that it actually has a great affect on families that are less fortunate. Since they saw so many people bring in gifts, they realized it was a big deal.”