History: When Key Club originated
and its purpose...
The first Key Club was sponsored in May 1925 at Sacramento High School in California by the Kiwanis Club of
Sacramento. The original concept was to develop a vocational guidance program aimed to combat the problems of student fraternities.
From this evolved the idea of a service organization for the home, school, and community.
The
idea slowly spread throughout the country and by 1939 Florida has a sufficient number of Key Clubs functioning to hold a state
convention and form a district. Other districts followed Floridas lead, and finally in 1943, a national organization was started.
In 1946, the first club in Canada was formed. The Club International Constitution and Bylaws were adopted that same year.
Today there are clubs in Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Philippines,
Republic of China, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.
The
Modern Day Key Club
Key Club is a service organization for high school students, which
operates under school regulations and draws its members from the student body. The club is a unique organization because it
is sponsored by a local Kiwanis club, composed of the leading business and professional people of the community. Key Clubs
objective is the development of initiative, leadership ability, and good citizenship practices. It functions not only on a
local level, but on a district and international level as well. This highly developed structure provides programs, literature,
and the opportunity for students to relate to other teenagers from across the globe. Key Club is the largest service organization
of its kind with over 135,000 members from approximately 3,900 clubs.
