Members of the Bainbridge High School Key Club have more than a few community projects in mind.

So far this year, the club has raised $500 in the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign, donated more stuffed animals to Childhaven in Seattle than the center could store, raised money for the Make-A-Wish foundation, and sent 1,000 books to Ghana, Africa.

“It’s very cool knowing that what I’m doing in Key Club helps someone else,” said Melinda vonReis-Iglesias, the club’s publicity co-chair. “I love it, and will continue doing community service projects the rest of my life.”

Key Club is the high school chapter of Bainbridge Kiwanis, a group dedicated to “serving the children of the world.” The club is open to any high schooler wishing to expand their involvement with the community and to develop their leadership skills.

The club’s motto is “Caring: Our way of life.”

“It is so much fun, and it gives me a great feeling knowing that we are helping kids in need,” said Monica Meell, club vice president. “It is so rewarding and enjoyable.”

With new officers this school year, Key Club has been totally revamped. Membership has grown from seven active students last year to about 40 today.

Members credit the growth to better publicity of club meetings around the high school, and wider understanding about what exactly Key Club is.

“Not a lot of things were accomplished last year,” said Danielle Orrey, club secretary. “So this year we’re trying to do everything we can. There are so many opportunities, and more people need to be involved.”

One project, Books for Africa, started over the summer and was just recently completed. It began at the annual Rotary Auction in June; after that event, leftover books that would have been destroyed or recycled were collected by Key Club members to be sent to another country to improve literacy.

Jenny Black, club president, had helped at the auction cleanup the year before and saw unwanted books go to waste.

“When I saw all of those books going into the chipper, I got so sad,” Black said. “I decided next year the club should do something about it.”

Do something about it, they did: Club members boxed exactly 1,000 books for shipment to Africa.

After mounds of paperwork and a few glitches the books were finally ready for shipment.

The club spent five months contacting local businesses for donations to cover the $560 shipping fee. During that time, the storage boxes got too damp and were weakened; the club had to re-box all 1,000 books. Finally on Nov. 17-18, 12 boxes each weighing around 40 pounds left for Africa.

Most recently, the club has worked for the Make-a-Wish foundation drive. The organization grants once-in-a-lifetime “wishes” for children around the world facing life-threatening illnesses.

Key Club members set up a wishing well outside of the high school’s theater doors during weekend presentations of “The Crucible.” With a donation of $5 or more, they gave donors a fortune cookie for a wish of their own.

Aside from all the “worldly” projects Key Club does, members also plan on doing some activities specifically for Bainbridge Island, including a T-ball program for disabled persons in the spring.

Members don’t have to participate in every project, and they can join anytime during their high school career.

“We’re not going to force anyone into doing anything, but whatever they can do helps tremendously,” Meell said. “We also encourage ideas from the community for any community service project.”

All of the current officers are juniors at BHS. They hope to continue the growth and strength of the club throughout their final years.

“We all want the club bigger and stronger then it is now,” said Todd Cohn, publicity chair. “We encourage our friends and even people we don’t know to join and come make a difference.”