Every year, there are thousands of natural disasters that happen throughout the world that kill upwards of 50,000 people. Not much on the individual level can be done to stop these disasters, however, various organizations such as the Red Cross help to mitigate the impact of them.
The Red Cross Club, recently founded by senior Shishir Tallada, is the GlenOak chapter of the Red Cross. This club started in order to fulfill an IB CAS project but it has quickly become more than just that. The club has six leadership positions, and 23 members as well as offering a large number of service opportunities for its members.
To fulfill the IB (International Baccalaureate) full diploma requirements, each student must create and complete the Creativity Action Service (CAS) project. This requires the student to demonstrate the five CAS stages: investigation, preparation, action, reflection and demonstration.
The club was created by Tallada after finding out that he had to complete community service requirements for the CAS project. Despite this being the original reasoning for creating the club, Tallada has a personal connection as well.
“I have been a Donor Ambassador for the Red Cross in 2022 to assist with blood drives, so hosting our own at the high school is a dream come true,” Tallada said.
The six people who fill the leadership positions, Tallada, junior Pressley Grzybowski, senior Bryan Konen, sophomore Sydney Sowa, senior Sydnie Limbach and sophomore Opal Shaheen play a large role in the club. These six participate in monthly meetings and get together frequently to plan the various events the club hosts.
This chapter is helping out primarily on the local level, with one project they are doing being the blood drives they are hosting this year.
“I am excited to host two blood drives in collaboration with the Student Council this year, with one being in the fall and the other in the spring,” Tallada said.
In the past, the blood drives have been hosted by a private company working with Student Council. The change to being hosted by the Red Cross will allow for easier access for the blood donated to reach the communities where it is needed.
The Red Cross Club is also currently organizing a fire safety event for the middle school, as well as working on several scholarship opportunities. This December, the club is also organizing a food drive where the club will be raising money and gathering donations in order to give to various local shelters and churches.
As the club is relatively new, this year is thought to serve mainly for the purpose of getting it up and running. This means that this school year they will not have as many service projects compared to the coming years.
The Red Cross Club at GlenOak offers a wide range of learning and service opportunities. This year, meetings will be held every second Thursday of the month in the nursing room, M208, with snacks provided.
