A new resource is available for Shortridge High School families thanks to the work of fellow Shortridge students.
High schoolers involved with the after school Key Club cut the ribbon recently on a new community closet stocked with clothes, food, toiletries and even a bed frame.
The project came together after several weeks of planning and solved a problem for the school. Shortridge’s student services team had goods such as clothes and toiletries available but they were scattered all across different parts of the school.
Shortridge Key Club members saw an opportunity to help.
“We wanted a dedicated space,” Shortridge Key Club President Sweet Night told Mirror Indy at the May 13 event. “Our intention for this community closet and space is to connect with the students and help them realize that they belong here at Shortridge.”
Night is 16 years old, completing her sophomore year at Shortridge and is one of several lieutenant governors for Indiana’s district of Key Club, a service group that’s part of Kiwanis International’s youth programs.
Just last school year, however, Night was recruiting friends to revive Shortridge’s Key Club, which hadn’t been active in years. She said Key Club wasn’t something she knew much about before high school but became interested after she and a friend did some research about the organization online.
The Shortridge group now has more than 30 active members and has organized fundraisers, a mental health aid event and volunteer opportunities within the high school’s Future Center, which is a college and career advising hub.
Origin of the community closet
Members of the Shortridge High School Key Club gathered May 13, 2024, to officially open a new “Community Closet”. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy 
Food, clothing and hygiene items are available to students and faculty in need. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy 
Gathered around the front door, members of the Shortridge High School Key Club prepared to officially open. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy 
Signs with QR codes provide opportunities for others to donate to the “Community Closet”. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy 
Chelsea English, faculty adviser for Shortridge High School’s Key Club, talks about the progress the club has made. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy 
The students say they hope they can grow the resource and move into a bigger room in the future. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy
The community closet project came along, Sweet said, because the club wanted to create something accessible to fellow students.
The students worked with their club adviser, Chelsea English, who is a school social worker, to learn what types of items were in high demand at Shortridge. They worked with administrators to secure a room in the school and wrote a grant application to help get them started. They also compiled and distributed an Amazon Wish List of items for parents and teachers to pitch in to help supply the closet.
The club spent an entire Saturday organizing shelves and products inside the small, 10-by-11-foot room. Shelves are stocked with some of the usual products you’d expect to find — pasta, canned goods, tampons and clothes organized by size — but also books, children’s toys and board games.
More than just necessities are stocked. Books, board games, and children’s toys are just as important. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy 
An Amazon Wish List provided direction for parents and teachers to pitch in needed supplies. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy 
The “Community Club” created an accessible source of needs for fellow student and teachers. Credit: Doug McSchooler for Mirror Indy
English said the students are even expecting a TV donation. That’s already promised out for one of their classmates who’s headed to college soon.
The room itself is decorated with string lights and shopping bags, said Shortridge Key Club Vice President Alfredo Aguilar, a sophomore, to make the experience of visiting the community closet more comfortable. He and Sweet said they don’t want those Shortridge students and teachers who make use of the closet to feel embarrassed.
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The students say they hope they can grow the resource and move into a bigger room in the future.
“It’s not just for us in the club,” Aguilar said. “It’s for the whole school in our community.”
The closet is currently open to only Shortridge students and teachers. Those seeking to visit the closet or to make a donation can contact English at englishc@myips.org.
Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.
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