Solon juniors raise funds for children’s rights

April 10, 2016

UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) is a charitable organization working to improve the lives of underprivileged children around the globe. This past December, Solon High School juniors Divya Batchu, president,  Alice Wu, vice president,  Mahak Jain, public relations, and Lexi Hirsch, treasurer, came together to form a new SHS club, a smaller scale sector of UNICEF. The organization influences over 190 countries with the goal of overcoming poverty, disease, violence and discrimination. UNICEF specifically works on providing access to clean drinking water, promoting girls’ education, and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in developing nations. Since UNICEF started at Solon, its 15+ members raised over $450 through their first fundraiser, Dollars for Donuts. So

UNICEF club members advertise for their first fundraiser, "Dollars for Donuts."
Lexi Hirsch
UNICEF club members advertise for their first fundraiser, “Dollars for Donuts.”

lon’s local Dunkin Donuts agreed to donate donuts to reward the winning first period class that raised the most funds. Mr. Van Reeth’s first period class individually raised the most funds, $92.

Jain describes the primary purpose of UNICEF at SHS.

“Since we’re more of a start up club, we’re focusing more on the fundamentals.” Jain said.  “Primarily, we focus on spreading awareness about what’s going on in the world regarding childhood poverty and childhood trafficking. In addition, currently we’re trying to raise funds and allocate them to different parts of the world for various causes.”

Since it originated only three months ago, the club is still in the beginning stages, focused on recruitment of club members through their Facebook and Twitter accounts, and establishing themselves in the SHS club scene. When over 15 members showed up to the first meeting, group leaders were pleased.

“We were really surprised with the turnout,” Jain said. “It was a nice surprise.”

Long-term goals for the club focus more on cementing the principles of UNICEF into the SHS environment.

“We plan to implement multiple fundraisers so they become traditional,” Wu said.

The club leaders are also looking to extend their goals across state lines and attend the annual leadership summit.

This year, UNICEF held their annual leadership summit the weekend of Feb. 19 in Washington D.C. Registration is open to all UNICEF club members, advisors, prospective club members and nation-wide club alumni. The conference focuses on global citizenship, international issues and activism. Having just started up at Solon, the group leaders were not in attendance, however, they’re looking to make attending the conference a priority in the years that follow.

We hope that Solon students will learn about the suffering of kids in developing nations and decide to join our club to help out and make an impact on the lives of these kids,” Heima said.

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