Costume parties, pumpkin patches and horror movie marathons may come to mind when you think of Halloween. But on Oct. 31, students in Key Club bypassed the candy and trick-or-treated for a cause.

Every year, the service-based club partners with UNICEF to raise money for children around the world. Their 2018 focus is giving tetanus vaccines to mothers in third world countries. Students raise funds by “trick-or-treating” for donations instead of candy on Halloween.

“Last year, we broke our previous records by raising over $1000,” Key Club president and senior Mikayla Bowman said.  “We do not have our total for this year yet but raising any money for this wonderful cause is a success.”

Key Club’s secretary, senior Jen Deters, was one of many participants to find success with this project.

“I went door to door by myself and raised about $152,” Deters said. “I loved being able to go out and help with this service project.”

Along with their own Halloween adventures, Key Club found ways to get the school involved. Each AI class was given a UNICEF box, with the class who raised the most winning a donut party. Students also donated to vote for a teacher they wanted to dress up on Halloween, which led to the sight of Mr. Barker seemingly riding an ostrich down the halls.

“Anytime I can help do any good for the world, I get excited,” Mr. Barker, Key Club’s co-sponsor, said. “I think this project took Halloween and made it super fun for me again.”

Junior Megan Chambers chaired the UNICEF committee. She was in charge of organizing the event for trick-or-treaters as well as getting teachers to participate in the costume contest. Mr. Barker thanks Chambers for giving him this experience.

“Megan Chambers asked me to be one of the teachers involved in the contest,” Barker said. “She is a Key Club member, and an awesome one at that.”

Though their UNICEF project is complete, Key Club members have many more service projects to look forward to this year. Mostly, the students find beauty in working together to make the world a better place. Both Deters and Chambers described Key Club as being like a family.

“I like Key Club because of the community,” Chambers said. “It’s a whole bunch of students getting together to do something good and make a difference.”