November and December are prominently known for their holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Both focus on expressing appreciation for the good things in life, spreading love and gratitude, and spending quality time with family and friends.
For Kelly Walsh, this time of year is spent giving back to the community. As November is coming to a close and Christmas time is creeping in, Clubs around KW are planning their yearly donation activities.
“Helping people in the community reminds me of how thankful I am, especially around the holidays. The more chances I get to give people a better holiday season, allows me to have a better holiday season”, said National Honors Society President, Emerson Levin.
The National Honors Society has recently been planning and executing their annual chapter sock drive. Every year, NHS students place bins around the school labeled for collecting new pairs of socks from students willing to donate for the local nursing homes of Casper. The past few weeks, up until December 3, they have been collecting socks. To learn more about NHS projects like this one, visit the NHS website.
KW’s Key Club Treasurer, Samantha Pelton, said, “Being involved in service around the holidays brings about a different kind of fulfillment, one that you don’t get any other time of the year.”
Similar to the sock drive, KW Key Club puts on their annual “Coats for Kids” charity drive with the help of their sponsor, Kiwanis. KW students donate gently used coats into designated bins around the school, and Key Club members gather them and take them to the local Salvation Army. Key Club members volunteer to hang up the coats and help however they can. This drive will continue through December as it progressively gets colder outside and coats are needed.
“Even with something as simple as giving someone a coat, the gesture holds so much meaning during this time of year and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to spread spirit throughout our community,” said Pelton.
KW Student Council is also involved in many donation activities. This week, and in past years they’ve helped with donations for Key Club and National Honors Society.
They’ve lended a helping hand wherever it’s needed and made a big impact on the execution of these activities. Clubs willing to help other clubs truly shows the presence of love and gratitude at Kelly Walsh.
“As a school we always give back and help our community, like food drives and making ornaments for the nursing homes. We always manage to find fun things to do that can help our school come together to help our community”, said sophomore, Student Council Co-Secretary, Peyton Hamrick.
Being able to unite and find ways to help the community can be difficult, but Kelly Walsh does it with heart. This unique characteristic shows Casper the portrayal of true Trojan Pride.
