On February 10th and 11th, Hinsdale Central’s Key Club volunteered at P.A.D.S., also known as Public Action to Deliver Shelter. P.A.D.S. is an organization in the Chicagoland area that helps provide food and shelter for homeless people. Every year around Valentine’s Day, Key Club helps prepare and serve food to the underprivileged at the Clarendon Hills Presbyterian Church.

After school on Friday the 10th, club members gathered in the classrooms used for the Creative Cooking classes and stayed until about 5pm. Members cooked and prepared a variety of dishes for the next day, such as fresh fruit salad, oven baked chicken, cheesy potatoes, green beans, rice, and fresh-baked cookies and brownies. Sarita Deshpande, sophomore, was pleased with how the event turned out and was excited to participate. “P.A.D.S. is a great event, and everyone had fun cooking for a good cause,” Deshpande said.

In addition to cooking the food, those who attended the weekly meeting before school on Friday also decorated place-mats in a Valentine’s Day theme so that the people they served would have a nice place to put their meal. After they were done eating, several of the people at the church appreciated the mats so much that they decided to keep them.

On Saturday evening, students in Key Club set up the church so that everything would be ready to go. Key Club students started to come at 5pm and were joined by a few members of the Boys Swim Team. They warmed up the food and kept condiments on each table. Finally, at 7pm, people began arriving and it was time to serve the food. Deshpande feels that this is the best part of the entire project. “It’s a two day event, so it’s one of our biggest events for the year. It really is a heartwarming experience,” Deshpande said.