By KCI Trustee Cheyenne Stewart
Within Key Club, the largest student-led international service organization, I have found acceptance, purpose and passion. However, my Key Club adventure started way before I became a member.
From an early age, my mom taught me the importance of volunteering as she took me along to take care of my great grandmother, serve meals to homeless people in our community, teach life skills to youth with less fortunate backgrounds and work at our church’s food pantry. My loving father, whom I lost to cancer when I was 7, devoted his life to serving in the U.S. Army worldwide and often gave away his own belongings, saying, “They need it more than I do.”
This became our family motto and encouraged us to carry out his legacy.
In high school, the service values I learned from my parents led me to Key Club. In fact, I eventually became club director, lieutenant governor, Indiana District governor and, finally, an international trustee. Each of these positions challenged me differently — and each quenched my thirst for acceptance by providing me with an inviting community and core values of caring, inclusiveness, character building and leadership.
As a trustee, I now work with our board members and various committees to ensure that Key Club values continue to shine through our numerous initiatives, partnering organizations and supported causes — just as a diversity of Key Club members around the world gather to support causes in your communities.
Each of you embodies caring and builds character every time you show compassion through service. Each of you represents inclusiveness when you welcome people of all backgrounds to join Key Club. And each of you exhibits leadership qualities when you recognize a need, empower others and carry out acts of kindness. All together, we achieve synergy when we combine skills, integrity, benevolence and efforts to accomplish strategic initiatives. With a growth mindset, we can contribute to our communities and develop caring individuals as well as leaders.
As I have progressed from a general member to a trustee within Key Club, I can truly say that I have found my purpose. My passion for service started in my early childhood and continues to form who I am today, who I want to become as an adult professional and how I wish to live my life as a citizen. Service work keeps me engaged, excited and determined, and I can say that this passion will never cease.
If you are interested in following your own leadership path, find out more about being a candidate at your district convention. Find your district here for more information. Thanks for all you do as a caring, inclusive Key Club member.