Many clubs on campus don’t actually do anything. Come on, admit it. You’re probably president of one (or three). However, two clubs, Youth4Direct Relief (Y4DR) and the Entrepreneurship Club, have both been highly active this year, one engaging in serving the community and the other providing students with a chance to learn about business skills from highly successful CEOs.
Youth4Direct Relief has a strong leadership team, led by presidents senior Phoebe Madsen, junior Henry Farrell, sophomores Julia Fay and Sophia Fay.
The club raises funds in the fall through a coin drive. Members place large jars, one for each grade level, inside the library and students can donate by dropping their change in the jars.
“We raise money for different areas that have gone through natural disasters or for areas that need medical supplies. We raised money to help with Ebola in Africa. We also raised money for supplies for midwives in Africa as well,” said Sophia.
In the spring, the club participates in an event with the Dream Foundation called Flower Empower.
Flower Empower is a program that delivers hope and compassion in the form of beautiful bouquets to those in need. Several days each week, groups of volunteers prepare dozens of arrangements using donated flowers, and then make deliveries to hospitals, hospices, cancer centers and personal residences.
“People donate money to buy flowers for other people and Direct Relief delivers flowers to those people.
Our club, along with other high-school Y4DR clubs helped to raise $22,000 this year,” said Sophia.
The Entrepreneurship Club, founded and led by senior Armon Ghodoussi, hosts seminars every few months in which they invite speakers from industry to speak on leadership and entrepreneurship.
Club members take field trips to local businesses, host assemblies and invite speakers to class. Speakers have included Hani Zeini, the former President of Sientra, and Holley Malia, President and Founder of Grey Matter Marketing.
“I believe the club was extremely successful this year, considering the caliber of our guests. We lined up many guests for the Entrepreneurship Club and I hope that next year we continue and build on the momentum. The club’s success is also measured by how many signed up this year. I have over 85 club members, which is the highest club membership on campus,” Armon said.
Armon hosted two assemblies in which he interviewed the speakers: the first featured Lynda Weinman, the former CEO of lynda.com; and the next one featured Angel Martinez, the CEO of Deckers.
Angel Martniez had a profound effect on junior Joan Curran. “He inspired me to try to create a program at Laguna that will help students learn basic life skills to prepare them for college and for life in general.” Her program is working toward a monthly lesson during advisory period.