Key Club collaborates with a few different companies to create a fun informational carnival style event to inform parents/guardians of people with special needs for places their family members can go to. The carnival has now been running for three years now and each year the carnival has become more and more successful. The first year there were about 75 families, the second 100 and this year they exceeded these totals with just under 400 families in attendance.
There were a total of 21 special needs organizations coming with 30 student volunteers. There were many interactive games to side with the organizations, like: bouncy castles, mini golf, a sensory station, a therapy dog, and lastly a Photo Booth.
The money raised from the carnival was put together into not only going into Key Club funds, but it also helps with students with special needs at Mooresville. The different organizations were those that could help with waiver classes which is free money from the state that people can qualify for, medical care, music classes, etc.
Key Club, Advisor Alicia Richhart, has a long year ahead of her each year with the creation and planning of the carnival.
“I start the outline of the process in September. In January I began calling the companies, fundraising, pitching the idea to different places. Then finally at the end of February everything is finalized,” Richhart said.
Key Club member junior Lilly McNew was one of the students that decided to come out to support this carnival. She was a part of the long awaited set up and tear down with the event. McNew is apart of the executive board of Key Club, and she said that these groups of students along with Richhart lead this event. Overall her experience with the carnival was busy, but still very enjoyable in the end.
“It was an awesome experience and awesome to get to see everyone there, especially because we had such a great turnout this year,” McNew said.
Best Buddies also decided to expand their help with this event. Junior Hadley Miller was one of the students in Best Buddies that decided to volunteer the carnival. Her role was going around to different stations and heading up the games.
“I loved being able to see all of the kids happy along with their adults,” Miller said.
