VIDALIA — Service to the community is one virtue Vidalia High School is trying to make key for its students.

Last Friday, more than 60 students from VHS attended the first planning meeting for the new Key Club being established at the school.

The key club is sponsored by the Trace City Kiwanis Club and is a high school service and leadership organization meant to empower teens as they learn to become effective leaders.

Two of the students who attended the planning meeting, Aaron White and Kayla Kelly, both 17-year-old VHS seniors, said they are planning on running for president and vice president when elections for the new club begins.

“We work well as a team,” White said. “I am excited for this club to start moving along.”

White, who is also a member of the Student Council and Beta Club, said the key club is going to be a good way to show support for the community.

“This is going to be a way to help people more regularly, instead of just occasionally,” he said.

Kelly said she is joining the club because she enjoys going out into the community and helping others.

“I have been helping people in any way I can for a while,” she said. “The Key Club is going to be a good way to help people in a group setting, instead of doing it alone.”

Kelly said the club offers new avenues for community service.

“This adds another open door to the area,” she said. “There are a lot of people out there who need help.”

Kelly said she tries to make the community a better place every day.

“I try to smile and talk to everyone I see,” she said. “I do what I can, and if I can’t help, I try to think of ways I can help later.”

White said many people think giving money is the only way you can make a difference in the community.

“There are not a lot of people out there who want to help that can give money,” he said. “For people who can’t give money, they give time, and that can be more important than money.”

White said at a planning meeting last week sponsored by the local Kiwanis club, the new organization brainstormed ways in which the high school students can better the community.

“We came up with a big brother and big sister program,” he said. “Each student in the program could sponsor one child at the elementary schools to mentor.”

Whether the big brother and big sister program starts or not, White said he believes the organization is going to help out in any way it can.

“Many people don’t want to help others,” he said. “We are very anxious to start this organization, so we can get out there and show them there are people that want to help.”