(COVINGTON, La.) — The St. Paul’s Key Club, rechartered by Yehia Elkersh in February 2015, attended a banquet for the Covington area’s Key Clubs on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2015, to celebrate and commemorate their service to the surrounding area.

After less than one year of work in the St. Paul’s community, the club has made a name for itself with its various service projects and community-building activities.

“Our Key Clubs in the area regularly meet with our sponsoring Kiwanis clubs,” Key Club President Yehia Elkersh said. “However, our Key Club in particular has done a lot to unify the Key Clubs in the area because we are doing a major project which all the Key Clubs of the area are actually invited to participate in.”

This large scale collaborative effort is known to the various area clubs as the Park Project. The objective is to clean up the areas parks and recreational areas to provide a safer and cleaner environment for the community. Recently, the club has been working on this project at the Bogue Falaya park by pressure washing and washing the worn wooden playsets that have been uncleaned for a number of years.

“Being recognized at the banquet means a lot because, as a service organization, we regularly don’t get very much recognition,” Elkersh said, “but when our sponsoring Kiwanis Club holds a celebration like that for us, it means a lot to the members of the club.”

The members of the St. Paul’s Key Club regularly participate in various service activities both on and off campus. One of their largest undertakings has been to reboot the St. Paul’s Habitat for Humanity Club. Traditionally a smaller club, the Habitat Club has been revitalized with an influx of Key Club students who have a passion for community service and charitable work. Another major activity of the club is their Adopt-a-Street program, in which the club cleans several streets across Covington.

The club regularly looks for new members, and all grade levels are welcome as long as they have a dedication to service. Meetings are held every Thursday during the second half of lunch in the theater, with Saturday service projects to follow.