Key Club

The Key Club is an organization at Northern that holds community service projects in school and the community and which raises money for multiple charities. Senior President Alia O’Kane said, “We host many events. For example, at Halloween we do Trick or Treat, and at Christmas time we do Angel Tree.” Sophomore Editor Olivia O’Kane said, “The thing I love about Key Club is that for every different event we host, we raise the money for a different charity. They also tutor students at Northern Middle School.

The members get to choose the charities they wish to work for. In the Fall they raised money by trick-or-treating for UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund). Junior Treasurer Claudia Griffiths said, “The charity’s goal is to raise money for tetanus shots to give out in Africa.”  Another event that the Club hosts is the annual Quidditch Tournament, a game based on the Harry Potter films. “The money goes to a charity called The March of Dimes, which is for newborn babies born with illness,” said two-year member Jenna Hakun. The March of Dimes works to support pregnant women and to fight infant illnesses.

The Key Club doesn’t just run large-scale events, they also try to do small things to help out the community. “At a meeting last year, we made peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches, and brought them to Project Echo to give to the homeless,” said O’Kane. The Key Club meets every Monday during A Lunch in Ms. JoAnne Weiland’s room (601).

To see a WNHS story about last year’s Quidditch Tournament, click here.
–Mikey Allen, Cara Davidson The Patriot Press

Cancer Awareness Club

The Cancer Awareness Club is a new organization which will join together with the Pink Ribbon Club to raise awareness of cancer in general.  “When I heard Courtney Wilke was forming the Cancer Awareness Club,” said former Pink Ribbon president Sam Collins, “we decided to join the two clubs together. Pink Ribbon gave all of our funds to Cancer Awareness so that we could just work together as one club.” Unlike the Pink Ribbon Club which focused solely on breast cancer awareness, the new Cancer Awareness Club hopes to focus on all types of cancer.

“We want to help families of patients and make the lives of the families easier in any way that we can,” said President Courtney Wilke. Wilke says she started the club as a way to do her part in helping out the community as well as families affected by cancer here at Northern. “Cancer has definitely affected my family, so knowing that I can do something to help other families was a big reason for starting the club. Raising awareness through the school and the community is a great opportunity,” said Wilke.
– Kyle Horak, Ashlyn Newton, and Dylan Brotherton, The Patriot Press

Paws for a Cause

Junior Rachel Baker snaps a close-up photo of a timid beagle cowering in the corner. He is only one of the many abandoned animals at the Tri-County Animal Shelter in Hughesville where Baker is on a trip with the other members of the Paws for a Cause Club. Along with trips to the animal shelters, the group works to help abused and abandoned animals in the area. “We fundraise money to give to kill shelters to prevent animal euthanization,” said senior Molly Anadale, secretary of the club.

As one fundraiser, the club makes their own dog treats to sell outside of pet stores and donates the money to different shelters. They held the first such event on Saturday, October 20 in front of Petco in Dunkirk. “Hopefully, we will get a lot of donations and raise even more money than last year,” said Anadale. The club’s biggest goal is to raise awareness about the hundreds of animals that are abandoned and abused every day because only a very small number of the animals are actually saved.

This is only the club’s third year in existence, so expanding is still one of their top priorities, “We have a lot of new members this year. There were 40 people at our first meeting,” said the group’s president, senior Jennifer Linkins. Along with raising awareness, Paws for a Cause hopes to raise more money than last year with new fundraisers and events. “We’re hoping to have large scale fundraisers to help shelters, specifically the Tri-County Shelter,” said Linkins.

The Paws for a Cause Club, with its growing number of members and ambitious goals will work all year to help stop the suffering of animals in the community.
– Kyle Horak, Ashlyn Newton, and Dylan Brotherton, The Patriot Press