The Pembroke Academy Key Club is looking forward to its largest event of the year, hosting local senior citizens for a holiday dinner.
The club, which is a student-led, nonprofit community service group, is making its final arrangements to host community members from the towns of Pembroke, Allenstown, Chichester and Epsom on Nov. 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the PA cafeteria. No RSVP is required to attend, and admission is free of charge.
PA Key Club has been hosting the annual dinner for more than a decade and typically serves anywhere from 100-150 guests per year.
For Danielle French, a school counselor at PA who has served as the club’s faculty adviser for the last 10 years, the event is always circled on her calendar because of how important it is for both the kids and the senior citizens.
“We attract a really great group of kids,” French said of Key Club. “Ones that are really excited to do something for someone else. I just think it’s so great for our students, too, because it really gives them that exposure. It allows them to take on some leadership roles.”
The event is almost entirely student-driven. In addition to club members serving and mingling with guests, all food is cooked and prepped using PA’s bakery and cooking classroom.
French said the annual dinner is an extraordinary opportunity for high school students to socialize with members of the community to whom they might not otherwise be exposed.
“I think it’s hard for our younger generation to socialize the way that we used to,” French said, “so it gets them out of their comfort zone and allows them an opportunity to interact with new people and I think our senior citizens just love to see young people doing these kinds of things.”
Donations are made for Key Club to procure turkeys, produce, baked goods and other food items from organizations such as the Kiwanis Club of Concord and Associated Grocers of New England, among others.
French underscored the positive impact the event has on the community as a whole, citing a disconnect between taxpayers and the school itself.
“There’s so much divide sometimes between the community and the school, given the money and the budget,” French said. It’s tough sometimes to bridge that connection. For our senior citizens — and our taxpayers — to see what we’re doing for the community and see that partnership between the two is rewarding for both sides.”
