Most high school clubs focus on one specific cause such as promoting eco-friendly habits or learning how to debate. However, the Do Something club aims to raise awareness about a variety of issues and help make an impact in the community.
This nation-wide club is sponsored by the Do Something organization, which provides partial funding, tips to plan for projects, and campaigns for members to initiate. Celebrities such as Sean Kingston, Rainn Wilson, and JoJo get on board with the Do Something campaigns and create video messages that motivate teens to participate. On the Do Something website, there are 11 categories of causes such as international human rights, animal welfare, and sexuality that people can click on to educate themselves on certain issues or learn how to make a difference.
This year, the Do Something club has made its presence known at Glen A. Wilson High School.
At age 16, Sarah Chong, the club president, decided to start this club in order to “motivate our generation’s youth to get involved with the issues they care most about and take action in creating social change.”
This club has already launched two campaigns on campus since the beginning of the school year.
Give a Spit about Cancer was the first campaign. In an effort to recruit bone marrow donors for leukemia patients, club members set up a booth at parent-teacher conference and collected cheek cells from people who were 18 years old or older. Vice president Jennifer Sun stated, “I knew that this event would be a perfect opportunity for me to talk to the community about leukemia and how doing a cheek swab would increase the chances of saving a patient’s life. People were very excited to participate. It was great!”
Teaming up with the Anti-bullying club, the next campaign was Step Up to Bullying. Club members placed footprint stickers around school to raise awareness about bullying and promote peace.
Chong stated, “I feel like our campaigns have helped students and the community learn more about cancer and bullying. We will continue to do something good for our community throughout the year.”
