During their November meeting, Key Club put together birthday blessing boxes for the Pioneer Center that will be distributed to local homeless shelters.

“In the box,” says director of Key Club Emma Theel, “there is a multitude of items including toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, water bottle, poncho, razor, shaving cream, socks, washcloth, wet wipes, first aid kit, birthday candies and treats, $5 McDonald’s gift cards, birthday cards, and hotel toiletries. We are always collecting hotel toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, etc) from staff and students.”                  

The Key Club received donations by Ace Hardware and Family Roots Dentistry and has put it to good use, buying more items for the boxes.

The boxes are handed out on each of their birthdays so they can receive both presents and necessities. The purpose of the Blessing Boxes is to give people hope and courage in times of need. 

Senior Breanna Darcy is a member of Key Club and thinks that the packages truly are a blessing.

“Our blessing bags are pretty much birthday gift bags for the homeless. They give them something to be excited about and have a little gift on their birthday. Everyone deserves a good birthday,” says Darcy.

Last year was Key Club’s first year of doing blessing bags and it was a huge success. This year, they packed their gifts differently out of necessity, but are excited to keep the tradition going otherwise.

“This year we did blessing boxes just because we could not buy bags,” Darcy adds, “but the idea works. Everyone [last year] was very appreciative of the gifts.”