What seems to be a few hundred kids squish and sweat together while waiting outside the HST wing for the main event. For many, the motivation to attend was not to hear club officers speaking about the benefits of being in Key Club, but for the pizza, free of charge.

In addition to members making posters, doing announcements, and spreading photos of club events online, Key Club officers have been offering incentives like gift cards and food to attract new members and to reward former members, according to senior Tien Huynh, who is in charge of 16 Key Clubs across the district.

“I feel like it really brings people in and catches people’s attention,” Huynh said. “The gift cards can vary depending on what’s a hot topic, such as Starbucks, because a lot of kids respond to Starbucks.”

Huynh says that the purpose of this is to buy an audience and to offer their members rewards for their effort.

“It’s to attract people in, but since our job is to make them want to stay, we reward them every now and then,” Huynh said. “It has been going on every year, so it’s just something that’s been second nature to us now.”

The cost and effort of bringing these giveaways and food for the members comes directly from the officers, who tell students of the benefits of Key Club, including how it gives scholarships, how it continues through college, and how it does not require a minimum GPA.

“We really care about our members and really want to bring people in, so we don’t mind paying out of our pockets,” Huynh said. “Sometimes we do multiple giveaways a year, it just depends on the occasion.”

According to Huynh, the incentives have been given out every year as a tradition for Key Club. In addition, HOSA gives out candy to members during meetings.

Huynh says that the officers want to make sure that the club will be able to maintain itself after they leave, and that the food brings a lot of people in, but that those who pay their dues are the only ones who are quality members of the club. She says that the food just attracts people, but that it is the officers’ job to make people stay.

“Every time we bring up free food, there’s always gonna be an immediate reaction because everyone just likes to eat,” Huynh said. “Every year we do this, you can see our club increase in size. The goal is definitely to get more members, because we want to continue growing and we want to leave our legacy here.”