Key Club International is the high school organization sponsored by Kiwanis International. Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through helping. Key Club assists Kiwanis in carrying out its mission to serve the children of the world. High school student members of Key Club perform acts of service in their communities, such as cleaning up parks, collecting clothing and organizing food drives. They also learn leadership skills by running meetings, planning projects and holding elected leadership positions at the club, district and international levels.

Today, Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students in the world. It has more than 262,000 members in 5,000 clubs in 30 countries.

Each year, Key Club International teams up with its three partner organizations, March of Dimes, Children’s Miracle Network and UNICEF, for the fundraising element of their goals. Each Key Club is encouraged to participate with their partners as they join together to make a difference in the lives of children.

The 2010 Key Club International Convention took place in Memphis, Tennessee, from July 7-11. On Friday, July 9th, the group met together for the Recognition Session. The session combined a talent show with the recognition of the top students in many different categories. It was an important night for the students as it recognized many of the accomplishments they had during the year.

Clay Aiken was a guest speaker for the Recognition Session as a representative of UNICEF. As a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, Clay was articulate as he spoke with knowledge, compassion and pride of accomplishment.

After showing a short film titled, “I Believe In Zero,” Clay spoke of some of his experiences in Uganda when he traveled for UNICEF. He then spoke about the stunning project The Key Club started two years ago. It is amazing that these young people raised over two million dollars to help the children in Swaziland. Together, they made a difference. Clay accepted the usual “large check” and thanked the Key Club members for their support.

The entire presentation was a tribute to the hard work of the Key Club members.

A  live stream was available and many people watched the evening. It was exciting to see the program.  It seemed like we were a part of the audience.  It was lots of fun and almost overwhelming to see what the club members accomplish. It wasn’t bad seeing Clay either!

I kept a comment by a wonderful lady who watched the evening on-line.  Her post is the best conclusion of the night.

While others may whine and cry, bitch and moan about one thing or another, and try to diminish Clay’s accomplishments in various ways, I love how he just goes about his life, quietly advocating for the causes he believes in… Talking the talk and walking the walk and being the Measure of a Man that we all admire so much.