Troy Students Unlock Key2Finesse, Support Gift of Life

It started out 5 years ago as the idea of two students, to form an organization that would help them with critical speaking and presentation skills, while doing good for the community by raising funds for non-profits. Key2Finesse is a student-run organization whose mission is creating leaders of tomorrow by encouraging those very skills, and has 30 student members from Troy High, Troy Athens, International Academy East and several Troy middle schools.

The Troy Key2Finesse club sponsors a “Speak the Difference” competition each year, which consists of public speaking, multimedia, essay, poetry, art, short story and coding competitions in order to provide members with an opportunity to enhance their communications skills while benefiting a chosen non-profit each year. This year’s recipient is Gift of Life, which raises awareness and facilitates organ transplantation.

Previous years’ “Speak the Difference” events have been held in person, and have benefitted the following organizations:

2015 - $3,000 for THAW (the Heat and Warmth Fund)

2016 - $8,000 for PALAV (Pioneer Medical Research Foundation‘s Project)

2017 - $37,500 for Blessings in a Backpack

2018 - $34,000 for Easterseals, and last year:

2019 - $48,440 for Gleaners Community Food Bank

Said Key2Finesse board member and Troy High sophomore Varsha Penumalee : “With the arrival of COVID-19, alternate plans had to be made, and last March we had a meeting to discuss how to hold the event virtually. It will look a little different (from other years) but we are committed to raise even more money and awareness than we have before.” The “Speak the Difference” Competition will be virtual via Zoom on December 13th, and beginning at 8 am.

Since one’s of Key2Finesse's goals is to expand and reach out to more communities each year, they have set a goal to raise $50,000 for Gift of Life and hope to sign up over 100 people to the national organ donor registry. In order for potential donors to sign up, visit or golm.org/go/k2f or https://www.giftoflifemichigan.org/become-donor?tag=k2f, "School/College," "Key2Finesse," and then fill out the information. To make a financial contribution directly to Gift of Life, please visit https://giftoflifefoundationmi.org/fundraising/ Gift of Life is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit entity, whose tax ID is 23-7260865.

Penumalee concluded: "I am so grateful to have had such a wonderful opportunity to work with a great organization like Key2Finesse. I have gained real world exposure, learning how to effectively communicate with potential donors and pitch to business owners for corporate sponsorships. In addition, as a board member, I have extended my leadership abilities, working with people from all across the state and even country. Most importantly though, being a part of Key2Finesse has been such an eye-opening experience for me, as I have been able to contribute and help put an end to widespread issues in our communities."

For more information on Key2Finesse, visit https://key2finesse.wixsite.com/key2finesse.