Cleveland’s Key Club participated in a fun community service event on Saturday Nov. 6. The club worked with the organization “Friends With Trees” to replant trees destroyed in last year’s snow storm and the summer 2020 heat waves in the neighborhoods of Milwaukie. Students and other volunteers gathered on the cold and rainy Saturday morning at Milwaukie Municipal Works warehouse where they split into smaller groups and drove to different sites throughout the neighborhood to plant trees.

Sophomore Fiona Sherwood, a Key Club leader, said the “event was a huge success because Cleveland students were able to contribute to the community in a fun and engaging way, where students were able to work together and learn new skills while also planting trees and restoring nature.”

Sherwood also noted the event was important because the extreme weather events of the last year caused some extensive damage to the surrounding trees and this provided an opportunity to help rebuild this part of the ecosystem.

Another participant, sophomore Bailey Steinmeyer, said his favorite part was when his group got caught in the hail and pouring rain. He agreed this event was a great success because all the groups got so much ground covered with brand new trees. His group planted 17 trees “flawlessly,” he said.

Overall, this community service event showed great leadership skills by the students involved and was a fun learning experience for all. Key Club is a great way to experience community service events, give back to your local community and complete your required service hours as well. All students are welcome. Check out Cleveland Key Club’s Instagram account @cleveland.keyclub for further information about the club.