STUY KEY CLUB 345 Chambers Street New York, NY 10282 USA
Official Newsletter of Stuyvesant High School Key Club Volume 4 Issue 7
The Locksmith The Start of a New Year!
Table Contents: Table of of Contents A Word from your President A Word from your Vice– President A Word from your Secretary A Word from your Treasurer A Word from your Editor Doc to Dock Leadership Training Conference Walk MS Manhattan Fort Greene Park Clean-Up Project Sunshine A Brief History on Walkathons Notes
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 12 14 14 15 16
The Old and New Cabinet at LTC along with some dedicated Key Clubbers!
IMPORTANT KEY CLUB INFORMATION! ~Your Past Cabinet~ Gavin Huang (President) Victoria Tsang (Vice-President) Kenny Yu (Secretary) Adeline Yeo (Treasurer) Victor Ma (Editor)
~Your New Cabinet~ Bette Ha (President) Johnny Szeto (Vice-President) Fannie Law (Secretary) Sarah Zhao (Treasurer) Jensen Cheong (Editor)
E-mail Us with Questions/Problems: stuykc@yahoo.com Visit Our website! www.stuykc.org
We wish the old and new cabinets the best of luck in the future!
UPCOMING EVENTS! 1
Visit our calendar and sign-up for events on our website! Pre-Induction is right around the corner!
1
A Word From Your PRESIDENT Bette Ha If there was only one word to describe my life, it would be “pie.” I like pie very much. I like the flaky, graham crusts and sweet, delicious fillings, and I absolutely adore a whipped cream or ice cream topping. But pies are quite hard to make. Of course, one can always purchase the pre-made crusts and canned apple filling, but what’s the fulfillment in that? I can volunteer at a place, leave half way through, and come back in the end, but what’s the fulfillment in that? Anyone can do anything and give up halfway through the process, but sticking it out to the end, and being able to see the final result is what is so satisfying about baking a pie, or volunteering, for that matter. It’s really satisfying to see a cancer survivor smile when we give them high fives and cheer them on, or a homeless person bid us good morning as he walks through the front doors to a warm meal. If I was given a penny for every time my heart inflated at a Key Club event, I would be rich, and I would be able to buy us a Key Club banner to replace the one that Marius (the Vice President from two years ago) ran away with. As the newly elected president, I plan on reviving the spirit of Key Club, the spirit that I knew and loved, but which disappeared when all the focus was turned towards the point system. I remember when people would help out just because that felt like helping out, and not just because they wanted to have the most points in the club. As the newly elected president, I plan on communicating more with the members, and promoting intergrade relationships. I remember when seniors would talk to me, as a freshman, about different things, whether it was how I felt about Stuyvesant, or about how dismal the weather was, and if the rain was ever going to let up. Aside from drawing on my past memories and recollections of Key Club, there are also new ideas that I wish to implement. I would like to create more long-term events, so that people will be able to commit themselves one particular thing and feel more comfortable with their surroundings and the familiar faces that they will continuously be seeing. I would like us to work with the other clubs in Stuyvesant High School, because I know that there are members who often cannot come to our meetings or events because of club conflicts, or who prioritize another club over Key Club. I would like us to help charter a Builder’s Club (the middle school branch of the Kiwanis Family) at the local middle school in Tribeca, and to work with the existing Builder’s Club that we are apparently affiliated with in Brooklyn. I would like to vary the location of events, difficult as this may be, because I know that Queens clubbers don’t like the two hour commute to Brooklyn, nor do Staten Islanders appreciate the arduous commute to Upper Manhattan. Keeping this in mind, I will try to work with the New Projects committee to find events in different boroughs. I don’t want to be a dictator that forces people to go to events, but I don’t want to be a wallflower that allows the members to walk all over her. I want to be able to cooperate with everyone in creating a successful Key Club year, in which more members will join, and more recognition will be earned. I hope that a majority of you share the same sentiments, and I look forward to working with you all!
2 2
A Word From Your VICE-PRESIDENT Johnny Szeto Si vous lisez ce message, vous ne vous conformez pas. Je m'appelle Johnny et les bonbons et de chocolat sont ma vie! If you couldn’t read that, oh well! Eat a baguette, or a croissant; you’ll feel better. Anyway, you should all learn French; it’s a cool language. If you’re wondering what French has anything to do with Key Club vice presidency, keep wondering because there really isn’t any correlation between the two. Except for the fact that you might get the occasional hard-to-pronounce French last name on the Key Club points spreadsheet. Like Tsang. Or Cheong. But putting aside this difficult task that I must fulfill in the future, I am truly thankful for having bestowed upon me the duties of Vice President. I have a feeling that this position has much more work in store for me than I had first anticipated, giving me more of a reason to put in 200% commitment into everything I do for Key Club. I am grateful to have had a dedicated cabinet lead my junior year in Key Club, and there is without a doubt that I will work with the equally enthusiastic cabinet of ’09-’10 to return the favor. You will definitely see me at more events and I will always lend a hand to anyone in need (Just put your name and ID in an e-mail with “Points Problems” in the subject.) To me, Key Club is like crème brûlée: when you think you’ve had enough, you end up wanting more (That’s what she said!)
3 3
A Word From Your SECRETARY Fannie Law I love Key Club it’s— The reason why Key Club means so much to me is because— Well, my first encounter with Key Club all started when— How should I put this? I don’t think that I can express Key Club in just a few words (especially since I don’t seem to have a way with words). How can I make you guys understand that Key Club is the best thing that’s ever happened to me? For some reason that is why I love volunteering to the extent that I feel selfish every time I go to an event because I’m not just helping my community, I’m helping myself too. The feeling of giving someone a helping hand felt like I was picking myself up from the ground. And that talking to a complete and total stranger made me feel like I was putting myself back together. And I didn’t even know that I was broken in the first place. How can I possibly explain what Key Club means to me? Because I don’t think it’s something that you can put in words. Maybe because the only way you can really express it is by the things that you do, how far you’re willing to go in a matter of hours, and just how much you care. And somehow, you can gain confidence from someone else’s happiness. Amazingly, you can feel better about who you are for one moment. And maybe, the world really isn’t out to get you but just needs your help. It all depends on whether or not you’re willing to reach out, put someone back on their feet, and cheer them on as they continue from where they left off with their life. I think that being part of the cab means that I have to take that first step. And start thinking about helping others before anyone else. My job isn’t just limited to taking notes and filling out paperwork; it involves what you guys do as well. I can’t do everything alone because that’s just not the way Key Club works. I need your opinions, your questions, and your voices to try to give me advice so that I can try to make Key Club one of the best experiences you’ll ever have. I do have a responsibility to everyone in this club and that’s to have everyone feel the same way about Key Club that I do. Am I being optimistic? Yeah, but really, can you help being any other way after being a Key Clubber?
4 4
A Word From Your TREASURER Sarah Zhao What time is it and in what month? This clock never seemed so alive. I can’t keep up, and I can’t back down; I’ve been losing so much time. I honestly have no idea how to start off this message for all of you, so I’ll start off with the wonderfully basic two words: thank you. Thank you for voting for me on that Thursday afternoon for treasurer and I truly hope that I will live up to all of your expectations (as many or as little as there are). But you’re not reading this to hear my thank yous, but to listen to my future plans. As Key Club treasurer, a large portion of my duties are to find ways to fund the club and to raise money for many causes besides using our base amount of money and then not being able to replenish that money to give to the next treasurer. I’m going to be aiming for more bake sales (this past one was a HUGE success! We made over $175 dollars!) and I’ll be working with the fundraising committee (so join now and speak up! :]) So basically, you guys know that we can’t sell candy anymore because the SU wants us to sell outdated snacks. So let’s implement something new. What’re we going to be doing then? We’ll sell keys. KEYS WTF? Yeah, I’m planning on buying some cookie cutters that take the form of a key, among others such as the MSABC ribbon and the teddy bear as a reminder of the March of Dimes teddy bear sales. The fundraising committee will be the ones baking cookies using these cookie cutters and they will sell them around the school while wearing a bright yellow shirt to remind students that they’re selling something. [So, once again, join fundraising, speak up, AND you’ll get an awesome shirt and adorable cookie cutters!] That’s one of the ideas that I’m hoping to get ready and happening starting September [a month before I can start collecting your dues!!]. But besides my ideas, I’m sure all of you have awesome fundraising ideas since you all obviously want to make a lot of money for the causes we’re following besides begging people to donate, which does work but does it work WELL? So tell me now and let’s make some magic, Key Clubbers. ‘cos it’s you and me, Sarah
5 5
A Word From Your EDITOR Jensen Cheong Mahatma Gandhi once said, “If I have the belief that I can do it, I will surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have it at the beginning”. The moment I was elected to be your editor, I saw a twisted path filled with fork roads and pits. Choose the wrong road, you have to go back. Fall in a pit, you have to climb. The expectations are high and it will not be easy meeting them. How high? Two words. Victor Ma. Alright, I’m messing with you guys. I do not talk or write with that kind of tone unless I am writing a prank letter saying someone won a million dollars. However, that does not mean what I said isn’t true. An editor is a very tough job and there is a lot of pressure on me. Like I said in my speech, I am not pressured to be the best editor to serve you but I am pressured to continue the good work done by our editors. “When you fall down, get back up. When things are bad, keep your bead up and fix it”. My basketball coach told me this and it is a very good lesson. I know that I can be as great of an editor as my predecessors. I know I can fulfill and go beyond my duties in my attempt to better Key Club. I don’t serve the people who make the guidelines for an editor. I serve the club. If something will benefit the club, I will try my best to make it happen. Anyway, I have some ideas for me and for the committees that are under my responsibility. Firstly, I am very pleased with the large contribution to this locksmith issue! I want to keep this going and keep all of our members informed about every event and activity we do. I am also encouraging EVERYONE to go to events and carry camera and snap a few pictures to send to us. Every picture helps! I also have plans as well the art committee chairs to expand their committee. The Key Club Board will once again catch the eyes of everyone coming to school in the morning. There is also a very GROWING interest in making videos. It is SO MUCH FUN! I am pleased to say that video making will now be done by web committee! There are SO MANY THINGS I want to do. Things I want to accomplish. I want you guys to look back and remember Key Club not as a waste of your $12 but as a very good investment of it. I can’t guarantee that I can do everything, be there when you need me, or finish my long list of goals. But I can tell you that every time I fall in a hole, trip over problems, and sink into the deepest trouble imaginable, I’m going to get on my feet and keep my head up.
~Peace
6 6
Doc to Dock “Converting Surplus into Survival” By Shannon Zin On that mid-March Wednesday, the sky was gray and uninviting. The project leaders (or, at least the people who knew the way) lead the small group of Key Club members on the streets of Brooklyn. Being that this was the first time I participated in a Key Club event (ever!), I couldn’t help but feel unsettled in unknown territory with such a small group. But hey, there was nothing to lose from some good ol’ fashioned volunteering to brighten up my day! Doc to Dock is a non-profit organization that ships medical supplies to Africa. They gather leftover sterile equipment from hospitals that would’ve otherwise thrown them away, sort them in their warehouses, pack them into boxes, stack those boxes into palettes, and finally sending them off to help those who need it. Pretty nice of them, huh? In contrast, my first impression of the Doc to Dock warehouse was not “nice.” Rather, it was, bluntly, “intimidating.” The somewhat rusty metal door with airbrushed skulls wasn’t the best image of “safety.” In addition, the street was virtually deserted. The silence brought down an unsettling atmosphere, at least to me. Nevertheless, my train of fearful thoughts broke as a bespectacled redhead called to us from down the street, inviting us inside. After our schoolbags were discarded in a small cubicle-like room, the majority of us signed some important paper (so important, I can’t recall exactly what I signed). Then the hands-on working began. The Key Club was divided into two groups; one group was lead by the redhead and the other by a slender middle-aged woman. Each group had to prepare palettes (wooden frames with boxes stacked on top) and shrink-wrap them. The most challenging part was moving the larger boxes off of their designated shelves, but aside from that it was a field day. You’ll never truly appreciate the sheer joy experienced from running around a stack of boxes with plastic wrap until you actually try it. Believe me. The only thing better would probably be skipping around a stack of boxes with plastic wrap. When all was said and done (more of the latter), the woman offered us snacks (cinnamon sticks, yum!). My group made two palettes while the other group made one, though ours came out like abstract art while the other was a painstakingly precise rectangular prism. Is this an example of equivalent exchange? And so, that concludes my first Key Club activity (ever!). It wasn’t a huge, 50-person effort that gave out free t-shirts and went on for five hours, but it was enough to make me feel like I helped out. Hopefully, I’ll get to do more in Key Club over the next three years, and maybe (just maybe) there’ll be more cinnamon sticks coming my way. Converting Surplus into Survival is believed to be the motto of Doc to Dock. Visit their website: www.doctodock.org/
7 7
Leadership Training Conference
HEY STUYVESANT! How do YOU feel? By Sarah Zhao I swear that was all I heard at mealtimes, especially during dinner. Of course, there were also speeches that I couldn’t hear half the time because they were so far away and the was a random Key Clubber always in the way of the podium. Now according to my very up-to-date journal that I dragged along with me to LTC, I have three and a half or so pages of Tahoma sized 10 words all about it. So here’s my story, with the parts like “I’m here!” all cropped out. So, other than the first argument over rooms and who wanted to switch here or there, we began the conference with a really silly opening filled with icebreakers and, later on, a bit of mischievous wandering. (Some of us found the garbage chute and Fannie scared us all by screaming her head off when she saw nothing. She’s too good at pretending.) Hours passed by and it was our dinner, which comprised of a nice plastic cup filled halfway with Coke and a meal that took about twenty minutes to receive. Then we all headed to the Stardust room to listen to who was probably the most amazing speaker on the face of the earth – Bobby Petrocelli. His speech was unbelievably moving, filled with stories that were loosely connected to each other but always went back to his original statement. He talked about the power of an epiphany, and about his wife, Ava, and how his loved ones had helped him cope through her death and beyond it. He talked about how everyone showed up that day of her funeral – the students he used to teach, his acquaintances, and anyone he met. He talked about a guy who worked at Red Lobster who was sweating immensely the day he was driving along the road and he ended up saving his child’s Christmas. He basically told us how beautiful we are, and, even though it sounds so corny coming out of me, he put in so much force and passion into it, I had to cry. Jensen, who sat next to me, started sobbing. He was so motivational. I listened to the candidates’ speeches after that and had a pretty difficult time keeping my mouth shut when one of the girls stopped a candidate’s speech four words before it ended because the candidate ran overtime. After Victoria’s speech, I sort of zoned out a little bit until I saw Nancy’s and Allen’s speeches, which were extremely concise. After the speeches, we all left and got ready for the Meet&Greet, which was pretty fun and silly. Disclaimer: Jensen was OT sobbing. He only shed a few tears :-)
8 8
Leadership Training Conference So while I was putting on my outfit, which consisted of a few shiny scarves, shades, and whatever else I thought was rock-and-roll-like (I still don’t know!), everyone was also getting ready with whatever they could find. I think we were all motivated by the fact that we were getting ice cream, especially Jacqueline. So we all got our groove on and took pictures and then headed down to the Empire room, where we met a whole bunch of different people from all over New York. And got ice cream, of course. We were all acting silly and then people were gathering for some sort of running-and-dancing-in-front-ofsomeone-else game and then we basically ruined it for them by going in a conga line. At 11:30, we went back upstairs and we all stayed outside of our rooms in the hallway until midnight, and it was probably one of the sweetest bonding moments at LTC. Well, sort of. Eh, I thought it was pretty cute. The next morning, I was being lazy and just rolled around in the bed sleeping while everyone else went to eat breakfast. Afterward, I woke up and then went to watch Bobby Petrocelli speak again. I swear, he’s a natural at capturing emotions and hearts. He reminded us of how beautiful we are through a mix of more stories. I wish I bought his book! Grr. (Editor’s ote: You still can!) Then, Fannie and I went to our Secretary/Treasurer conference with the district secretary and district treasurer and then went back to sign up for APs (Ahh, we love Stuyvesant so much we have to visit the site all the time). And then, it was lunchtime! The line was, once again, extremely long but I had macaroni and cheese so I was satisfied. During lunch, awards were announced and Stuyvesant won so many awards (! ! !). We all wished Victor were there because he was so much a part of all of the awards that were given out. Afterward, the cab met together in the Session III conference and talked about what we’re going to do in the upcoming year (heh heh heh). My journal will keep those secret for now. After that, I think I just got extremely exhausted so I didn’t go to Session IV and just lounged around, catching up on sleep. Bus rides make me sleepy. And so does wearing casual business attire.
Your very awesome CAB partying! :]
9 9
Leadership Training Conference I don’t think I did much other than type here and there and sleep until dinner. We ate what we ate the day before and then went into the Stardust room again. This time, we watched the accomplishments of the district appear on the PowerPoint slides and cheered every time we heard Stuyvesant. We were all so proud of Victor when we saw his name on the screen as most distinguished editor (I forgot the official title). We cheered constantly, and Victoria was so happy throughout it all. The awards and accomplishments were in between the talent show, which consisted of five acts. The first was a girl dancing to a song that I assume was titled “Right Now.” The second act was a jazzy piano piece that was really really amazing. Our international president, Kia, rapped for us – and his rap was really good and audible (I thought he was part of the talent show). The third act was magic, literally. The magician’s tricks were pretty darn good – and really sweet. The last trick she did was to ask a volunteer to pick a card out of a deck of 52 cards, which had 52 events on it, and one of the two blackboards she had would somehow have the title of the event on it. It was pretty intense since neither of the two blackboards had anything on it and when the title came up, I smiled. “Going Green,” the governor’s project. It was really adorable. The fourth act was the Haruhi Suzumiya dance that I often watched my friend Kelvin dance to and it was really funny with the dancers in ballerina costumes. The fifth act was something that everyone related to (though I couldn’t guess any of the songs). He was a pianist and he played a medley of songs for us and he would start off with a song and once we guess it, he would automatically change it. Some of the songs included 100 Years and the chorus to Dragostea Din Tei. I think those were the only songs I recognized. Alright, so my order is all incorrect time-wise but that’s okay. The final award was for the best club video and I think we were all on the edge of our seats waiting for the announcement. We didn’t come in second or third, which actually scared us a little and then we saw Stuyvesant High School underneath “First Place.” I think I nearly cried cheering. The video was then broadcasted, and the video made me smile. It was so cute! And we had our lunch – which was better than the first two days and our final pieces of small talk and cheers and before we left, our final wishes good-bye to everyone:
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION! Club Poster - 2nd Club Video - 1st Governor's Project (Hours Served) - 1st Major Emphasis Project (Hours Served) - 1st Non-traditional Scrapbook - 3rd Public Relations - 1st Outstanding Major Emphasis Project - 1st Outstanding Club (Division 11)- Us! Outstanding President– Gavin Huang Outstanding Vice President- Victoria Tsang Outstanding Treasurer- Adeline Yeo Outstanding Webmaster- Victor Ma Distinguished Editor- Victor Ma
Distinguished Key Clubbers Seniors: Snigdha Das Juniors: Adeline Yeo Gavin Huang Kenny Yu Olivia Cheng Victor Ma Victoria Tsang Sophomores: Fannie Law Jacqueline Yeung Jennifer Kuo Jensen Cheong Katherine Chen Sharif Mahfouz Shelley Li Freshmen: Frankie Choi
10 10
Leadership Training Conference After that came the Governor’s Ball. We all dressed our best and … went to help Victoria take down all of her posters (if any of them were left on the hotel walls, she could’ve been disqualified). We then went to the ball and I think I just stared at the mosh pit of people jumping up and down. We were there for an hour, in an out of the mosh pit (literally) and finally went back to the hallway outside of our rooms. We sat there, unwilling to go back into our rooms until Gavin told us the danger of actually getting kicked out of the hotel. So we obeyed like good little children and went back inside our rooms. I had some really nice hot chocolate and miso soup that night while talking with Victoria and Jacqueline. Hahaha! The next morning we woke up and didn’t really have much to do until lunch. We sat around in the room talking until we found out that Fannie had lost one of her lenses. We searched in and out and went down to the breakfast table and searched and actually found it on the floor of the dining hall! Then, I had my first breakfast at the hotel, with rock-hard bagels and orange juice! Most of us didn’t have any shoes on and looked unbelievably unprofessional but it was the one time we could go out in public like that and it was pretty nice. We sat around and then went back up and actually got dressed for the governor’s farewell speech and induction of new positions. Our governor, Amy Lorenc, had a really nice farewell speech with small bits of humor and bittersweet moments. The elections had ended for district secretary and treasurer and the new lieutenant governors were introduced and the new governor of the New York District, Allen Yu, was also introduced. He wished us a great lunch and smiled as he ended the last meeting of the conference. “We feel good! Oh, we feel so good, UHH!!”
11 11
Walk MS Manhattan Dragged to a Key Club Event and I’m glad I was. By Holy Cheong Normally, I would stay home and be lazy on Sundays. But this time, I decided to accompany my brother (Jensen) to the Walk MS because he told me about the free stuff volunteers get. I didn’t know what MS was until I saw all the signs. It stood for Multiple Sclerosis which is a back disease. Later on my brother described it more to me. The t-shirts weren’t bad though Jensen complained about the color a lot. I don’t see what’s wrong with yellow. It’s a cool color and besides, we ARE yellow. After receiving t-shirts and exchanging our registration papers, we got directions from an event staff to help out any befuddled or lost walkers or visitors. I was the youngest volunteer in my group (I’m not even in high school yet) but I knew some of the others from past events that I attended. The others I quickly became familiar with as Jensen likes introducing people. Helping the people, I found this difficult at first cause I’m not very social to people I don’t know. And it was kinda annoying when while I was speaking to a certain person or group they just walked by ignoring me. I could understand hard of hearing but some were right next to me. Overall though, they heard me clearly enough to ask for help. I helped out over 10 people then after a while there weren’t as much people as before. I took the time to take pictures (Jensen told me to) of the volunteers or funny images of people doing something when they thought no one was watching. Things started getting tiring. So then, we went to jack some free stuff. I stuffed myself with junk food which isn’t necessary good but hey, what can you do, I’m hungry. I started wondering where sandwiches were and saw bagels. Some of the drinks (actually one) were quite good. I took extra too. A bunch of us took seats and ate food. It was a really nice day outside, sunny and warm. Time went by and then we went to cheer on the walkers at the finish line. We lined up with rolls of stickers in our hands. We gave a sticker to each walker (yes including the little babies and children). It was quite fun too until I ran out of stickers. But I got more again because hey, giving out stickers was fun. Then a bunch of us left and moved farther down near the smelly bathrooms (seriously, they stunk). There, we formed a chain and did whatever “cool” ideas the guys came up with. We ended up doing the wave and some other cheer. I ended up with a bunch of stickers on me. The cheerleaders from some other place were real good too. They were very controlled and knew what they were doing. In the background I heard the music they were playing. Britney Spears. Jensen’s favorite singer. Boy could you imagine what he was doing. Anyway, after that we went to get more free food to digest. I liked being a volunteer. (Editor’s ote: Jensen was OT dancing to the music) I followed Jensen to the streets where some of the volunteers were giving stickers out to the walkers finishing. It was chilly there. We cheered loudly for them and gave high fives. Then after a while, we calmed down because of a few (one) complaints. I stayed until 2 PM since Jensen stayed and I had no clue how to get home so I had to stay with him anyway. In this event, I learned about MS and I also made new friends which is good news. We wrapped things up and parted our ways. I was satisfied with the event. It was worth my Sunday. 12 12
Walk MS Manhattan PHOTOS! Taken by Bryan Nguyen and Holy Cheong
Half of the crew taking a break with the very energetic lady.
HOLLA! Volunteers cheering on at the finish line!
“Excuse me, sir. May I be of your assistance?”
“Walk MS on three! One...Two...three!” WALK MS! WHOO!
←Who doesn’t like cotton candy? 13 13
Fort Greene Park Clean-Up Project Sunshine By Shelley Li
The first thing I see when I enter Fort Greene Park is a tall memorial. You can’t miss it. The actual event is uphill past them where there is a bunch of pitchforks, rakes, shovels, and buckets laying around. Several other Key Clubs were there in addition to individuals, like William C. Bryant. Everyone did a lot of hardcore volunteer work, like actual manual labor. We turned over dirt to loosen the soil (which was as compacted as concrete) with pitchforks. Some of us had to use shovels to scoop compost into buckets so we can bring them to the soil and cover them with it. It was fun in the beginning but after a while, it gets tiring. And I’ll bet we traumatized a lot of worms but it’s a good thing for the robins!! After a good amount of area is turned over, there was an assembly line set up so instead of walking back and forth with heavy buckets full of fresh compost, we just passed it down without having to move much. The person at the end of the line had to pour the compost over the turned over soil. When enough compost was dumped, people each took a rake and evened out the dirt. How painstaking! I’ll bet that a lot of people got stiff backs and shoulders from doing this for 3 hours, because I know I did. It’s a rewarding experience though, because our task is helping to go green and it’s more laborious than route marshalling or stuffing and sealing envelopes ;D I will not take that back. The nice lady in charge told us this was the first day of the many years to come to revitalizing Fort Greene Monday, April 13, was the first volunteer day for Park, so watch out for more of these!! (I know what I had described Project Sunshine, headquartered at 108 W 39th St # 725 in sounded like slave work but it’s actually fun, plus you feel accommidtown Manhattan. Project Sunshine is “a nonprofit orplished for the better of your community :D) ganization that provides free educational, recreational, and social programs to children and families living with medical challenges.” To provide for the free services, people from all over the country, from Donald Trump to those living in California, give donations for the cause. In order to make more people aware of this organization and its cause, donation cards along with information cards that read “P.S. I Love You” were sent out. Of course, to distribute on such a large scale would require a lot of manpower; which is where Key Club comes into play. With a staggering volunteer force of over 20 people and the ideas of Fredrick Taylor, we were able to get every envelope filled and mailed out. What was supposed to be a three day event turned into a single day event and what was supposed to be finished in a day was finished in a few hours. The staff was impressed by the number of people who showed up and did not expect so many people. They were very appreciative of our work and told us that we may be able to volunteer again next year since we’re faster than their usual hired help. For those who were expecting to go to the other days, we are very sorry for our efficiency :-)
By Kevin Mui
14 14
Briefing THE REVIEW
Walkathons
Project Sunshine Annual Benefit Envelope Stuffing
A
PPARENTLY, HAVING PEOPLE PAY TO WALK a couple of miles works. But when you really think about it, you’re not really paying for the walk, because I could easily do the same walk around the city or Central Park for free, which I did. Several times. When you pay, you’re really paying to help the cause. So in a sense, you’re not really paying anything. You’re really donating time, money, and support. The walkathon, a rather not very clever combination of the words “walk” and “marathon,” have always been effective ways of gaining open support and open wallets for a cause. The first walkathon was organized in 1969 after organizer Harvey Silver stopped by England on a return trip from the Peace Corp and saw adults raising money in sponsored walks. The walkathon became a popular tool for promoting issues affecting large sections of the population. The AIDS Walk prides itself as being one of the largest walks in the U.S. with annual walks in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is unique for running overnight. Corporate sponsors provide organizations with the food, drinks, refreshments, and financial backing that make some of the most successful walks return every year. But the real essence of the walkathon comes from the simple concept of mobilizing hundreds and thousands and millions of people in support of a cause. It is the triumph of the human spirit over the difficulties in the world. Walkers inflicted with Parkinson’s continue to walk with one side of their bodies immobilized. Walkers with cancer share medical advice and condolences. They cheer, they sympathize; there’s some beautiful symbolism to it all. When people organize, the world pays attention.—BY GAVIN HUANG
Purple haze Thousands of walkers traversed Manhattan (consequently stopping traffic) in the 2009 March for Babies MILES OF MONEY 1969 Harvey Silver organizes the first walkathon in the U.S., benefiting the American Freedom from Hunger Foundation. 1985 Shortly after the discovery of AIDS, the first AIDS Walk is organized in Los Angeles. They raise $673,000. 2007 After the Virginia Tech massacre, donations to victim Caitlin Hamaren’s Relay for Life page jumps from $100 to thousands. 2008 Democratic Party chapters around the country organize walks to raise money for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
WE’VE DONE THIS BEFORE. THE seemingly mundane office work that no one really wants to do and leaves to the intern to fret over. The routine process of taking a card, a form, and an envelope and stuffing them all in another envelope and then sealing them kind of work. This was our task, the intern work. We spent a couple of hours in the offices of Project Sunshine stuffing invitations to their annual benefit dinner, which will include such esteemed entertainers as Patti LaBelle and that other guy who’s probably Jewish and had a very Jewish name but I don’t remember. The unprecedented number of people who went on the first day allowed them to finish a day earlier. The interesting bit was the surprising amount of bonding time. Mindless work always welcomes interesting discussions about sex, teachers, and the timeless topic of college. Indeed, one of the evident downsides of the event was the heat of the crowded and small room, which may have been too much for some of the temperature-sensitive. This was not the first time we worked with the organization. Our past work with Project Sunshine was through the JCC. Perhaps you may remember the white teddy bears and the markers. The task was quick and sometimes monotonous, but throw in some friends, and you have some nice chatter. Consider going next year if you have the time.—BY GAVIN HUANG
GO CONSIDER SKIP
✔ 15
More Important Key Club Information! Past Key Club Committee Chairs
New Key Club Committee Chairs
Advocacy: Rebecca Chowdhury Antara Afrin
New Projects: Amanda Cheng Helen Luo
Advocacy: Kenny Yu Jenny Chan
New Projects: Donna Koo Justin Yang
Art: Snigdha Das Brenda Nguyen
Public Relations: Christine Ha Peiyu Lin
Art: Amy Guan Jennifer Kuo
Public Relations: Cassandra Tang Winnie Tong
Fundraising: Shayra Kamal Amy Lin
USACF: Donna Koo Helen Song
Fundraising: Ronald Leong Victoria Tsang
USACF: Christine Ha Helen Song
Locksmith: Bryan Nguyen Bette Ha
Web: Jensen Cheong Chris Yeung
Locksmith: Bryan Nguyen Sharif Mahfouz
Web: Olivia Cheng Keith Yeung
We also like to thank Jacqueline Yeung, Jennifer Kuo, and Fannie Law, for creating the supplement to this locksmith issue which covers the Leadership Training Conference. Thank You!
Committee Contact Info: Art: art@stuykc.org Locksmith: locksmith@stuykc.org
~Editor’s Note
Public Relations: stuykc_pr@yahoo.com
They were not kidding when they said Locksmith Committee had arguably the most work. Well, at least it is finished now. Thank you everyone for the articles and pictures! I know its gonna be an awesome Key Club year. Good Luck to us all!
USACF: usacf@stuykc.org Web: web@stuykc.org
Flyingblue-Jensen Cheong A very nice drawing of the cabinet. ~By Linda Li
www.stuykc.org a Kiwanis-family member
16
www.keyclub.org
16