Glen A. Wilson High School’s Associated Student Body (ASB) sponsors Club Food Day about three times during the school year. This event is an opportunity for clubs on campus to raise funds by selling food items during lunch time. Clubs such as Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), Mercy for Animals, and Kiwins jump to the opportunity to raise money for their cause on this rare occasion.
Club Food Day is also delightful news to students who just want a break from the typical school lunch.
“School lunch ladies sell salty lasagna, dry macaroni and cheese, and stale chicken burgers here at Wilson,” said Derrick Kung, junior, 17. “I’m getting tired of eating the same old thing.”
Although the regular price of school lunch is $2.05, students readily sacrifice $4 to $7 to purchase food items from fast food restaurants such as In N’ Out, Chipotle, and Jamba Juice that are sold on Club Food Day. Since it is a fundraiser, the food items sold are a bit pricier than what you can get at the restaurant itself. According to Wilson’s schedule, the start of lunch is only about three hours before the end of the school day. The participating food chains are only about one mile away from the school. Yet, students still have the urge to buy these items during Club Food Day.
“There are few reasons why students buy food items on Club Food Day,” said James Lattman, junior, 17. “One is to support their friends’ clubs. One is because people feel more inclined to buy expensive food when their friends around them have the same food. They can’t freeload off of said friends since the food is bought at an inflated price; so said friends would rather enjoy it themselves. The last reason is because we are hungry and we don’t want to eat later.”
No matter what the reason, students satisfyingly munch on their purchased food items throughout the lunch period. Even some teachers come out to support and to try something tastier than the faculty lunch.
White tables are set up around the lunch quad for clubs to sell food. Students and teachers can walk around to check out the prices and see what is available. Each club is responsible for handling the money. Clubs need to have enough one dollar bills to give change for the customers or else it can get crowded with people waiting to get their change, while club officers run to other booths to borrow money.
Most clubs sell out their food. If they sold a lot of food at a high cost, they make a high profit.
“Our club always sell In N’ Out,” said National Honor Society (NHS) co-president Alden Chu, senior, 18. “ We sell about 150 burgers on every Club Food Day. We raise about $250. This event allows us to raise money easily with the support of the students and teachers.”
This school year, fundraising guidelines have become stricter. Selling candy and chocolate from carry-on boxes were the main source of revenue for clubs last year. However, administrators banned the selling of those items on campus this year mainly because of health concerns.
“Banning the candy boxes has had a big impact on the budgets of many of the clubs on campus, including ours,” said Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) co-president Aaron Deng, senior, 18. “It’s definitely made the Club Food Day more important to all of the clubs on campus.”
Ever since this new guideline has come into effect, club presidents have become more appreciative of Club Food Day and they have looked forward to participating in the event. Club Food Day has become the main source of revenue for most clubs on campus.
Club Food Day is a great idea for other high schools to adopt.
“I think the club food day is a good idea for fundraising so clubs can raise money,” said Jennifer Lam, a junior from Bravo Magnet High School, 17. “I would love something like this at my school because it would be a great alternative to the LAUSD school food, which I personally do not eat and a great way for many of my school’s clubs to get the funds they need for their club purposes.”
