During the 2008 winter break from school, Eastlake High School student Matt Matula began looking around for a school club that concentrated its efforts on community service. Unable to find a club that truly fit his needs, his mother suggested he join “Key Club.”

Key Clubs have for many years been a link between young students and community groups such as Kiwanis.

Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students, and sees them fundraising, supporting and staging local events, and identifying ways in which they can help their community, much like the Kiwanians who serve as their mentors.

The problem for Matula was, there was no Key Club at Eastlake High School.

Rather than seeing that as an obstacle, Matula saw it as an opportunity.

Just a few months later, his dream of an Eastlake Key Club was fully realized. After coming up with a business plan that illustrated the steps he needed to follow, Matula solicited the help of local Sammamish Kiwanis branch members, Dawn Sanders and Nicky Beedle.

He then worked with Eastlake school officials Chris Bede and Liz Sirjani to develop an Eastlake Key Club, which was officially formed for the 2009-2010 school year.

Boasting 40 members, the Eastlake Key Club, with Advisor Krista Bjorge, has partnered with the Sammamish Kiwanis in community service activities such as the Kiwanis Ski and Sport Swap, Breakfast with Santa, bell-ringing for Eastside Baby Corner, and Roadside Clean Up.

Eastlake Key Club is in the Pacific Northwest Division 27, which includes Bothell, Inglemoor, Lake Washington and Redmond high schools, and the International Community School.

With the experience of founding a Key Club under his belt, Matula decided to run for the position of Division 27 Lieutenant Governor – the vital liaison between each of the clubs and the district. Impressed by his success at Eastlake, Matula was voted in by the delegates.

He will now join fellow Eastlake Key Club Officers, Patrick Leake and Ethan Chan, at a division conference in March, after which Matula will take over duties from outgoing Lieutenant Governor Chris Gao.

For more information on the Eastlake Key Club, including how you can participate, e-mail eastlakekeyclub@gmail.com.

For more information on the Sammamish Kiwanis, visit their Web site at www.sammamishkiwanis.org.