The first-ever Harrisonburg High School Club Fair took place on Thursday, September 4. One of the most highly attended club meetings was the Key Club in the auditorium, led by Fashion Marketing teacher Maurizio Antonnicola and the Key Club officers.

“Key Club is the largest community service club in the world for young people,” Antonnicola said to the crowd. He explained that there are different volunteering organizations for each age level all under the Kiwanis International, the Global Volunteer Organization.

Antonnicola has been the Key Club sponsor for the past twenty years and has crafted the club into the volunteering force it is today.

“It’s an action club; we do a lot [and] it all comes from teen power,” Antonnicola said. “We volunteer in the community [as well as] in the school. It all comes from teen power.”

The Key Club’s President Jasmin Quiroz has been involved in Key Club all four years of high school and was voted into office at the end of last year.

“When I volunteer, I [like] that I’m doing something good,” Quiroz said. She cited a major fundraiser the Key Club hosted last year as her favorite experience in the club.

“Last year we placed second in the world raising money for the Elimination Project, [a project hosted by Kiwanis to raise money in order to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus]. We raise $10,000 but we could only give around $7,000 because we gave the rest to [support] Hurricane Sandy [relief],” she said.

To kick off the year, the Key Club is raising money for the project known as AK-47.

“We’re going to try to raise money for kids who have been trafficked into military services. Some kids were kidnapped, some sold by their parents for money–ten year olds and younger being trained to kill people. We’re trying to save these kids and get them back in school,” Antonnicola said. Quiroz added that this child militarism is happening in countries all over the world.

“Kids are having to fight in Mexico, southeast Asia, Iraq, and [elsewhere],” Quiroz said.

Antonnicola advertises the club for driven students who want connect to their community and world.

“Those of you who want to help others, who want to help build a community but also want to build [yourself], those [are the people] we want in Key Club,” he said.