American Red Cross is one of the country’s largest humanitarian organizations. For over a century, its mission to provide emergency aid and disaster relief for communities in need has been repeatedly achieved by the compassion of thousands of workers, volunteers, and donors.
Now, the new Red Cross Club at MHS, founded by junior and president Ashlee Zeng, seeks to extend participation in relief efforts to high school youth by offering opportunities to volunteer and potentially help organize blood drives (for students ages 16+), contribute to donations to children’s hospitals, receive CPR training and certification, and much more.
The club is also led by other junior officers including Vice President Cecii Wong, Secretary Alex Tse, Treasurer Kelly Ye, Media Manager Mengyao Huang, and Event Manager Jennie Liu.
“I was excited to take part in a club that would encourage people to be involved in their community medically,” said Ye. “It’s a very valuable opportunity to actually make a difference in the world.”
In its most recent meeting, the officers helped set up accounts on the Volunteer Connections website so that members could officially register for volunteer opportunities.
Notably, the club recently started its Vaccinate a Village project in which they “fundraise money for measles and rubella vaccines that will help people in Africa,” shared Zeng. Each vaccine costs two dollars. With the over $100 they had already raised from their recent bake sale, the Red Cross Club plans to continue fundraising by partnering with local restaurants like Santa Fe Burrito Grill and Bar to “raise as much as we can.”
She emphasized that, like the Red Cross Club’s parent organization, planning all of these events is done in pursuit of one goal: to help communities. “Aside from the usual volunteering events that can be done anywhere,” said Zeng, “I really wanted to expand how far community service can go and to implement opportunities that can heavily impact people on a larger scale.”
She wants members to know that by volunteering for the club, “you are serving other people. Anyone can volunteer no matter who or where you are, but it’s really about the efforts you give and good intentions you have for others.” Ye echoed her statement, expressing how joining the Red Cross Club will “simultaneously help you develop skills of leadership and responsibility and leave a positive impact on the community!”
And like her fellow officers, Wong is determined to make the club a well-known organization at MHS. She is determined to “see its progression and the growth of the services we would be able to achieve… and your help is valuable to not only us but people in need.”
Junior member Helen Nie believed that the club “has a lot of potential, especially because the American Red Cross is a well-known organization, so it could make a big impact on our community.” She even added that for the club’s bake sale, “I got to bake cookies,” and she enjoyed that “I’m doing something fun while helping fundraise money for a good cause.”
The Red Cross Club meets on Thursdays in B434. For those interested in joining, more details can be found on its Google Classroom page using code uue6m36 or by contacting Zeng at azeng26@maldenps.org.
