Staring out into the sea of cars in front of Jewel Osco on Patriot Boulevard, junior Ramona Chuang, UNICEF Publicity Chair, greeted members of the Glenview community with a smiling face, encouraging them to donate. This fundraiser had members of UNICEF working for hours to help support families in crisis, senior Ishana Shah, UNICEF Co-Ppresident, said.
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is a global organization that houses a chapter at South that strives to give back to underprivileged children around the world, Shah explained. UNICEF holds six to eight fundraisers annually to support its cause. The cluWb’s most significant fundraisers include the Jewel Osco fundraiser and the Hot Chocolate Sale located at the Grove, senior Pawel Odziomek, UNICEF Secretary said.
“The Hot Chocolate has a really big impact on people,” Odziomek said. “[The fundraiser’s] fun because [UNICEF] members are all selling [the hot chocolate] and it’s a lot of fun seeing all the festivities and being able to do good for the world. We have the opportunity to help out these children across the world who really need [it] and have their lives changed.”
On some occasions, South has partnered with Glenbrook North to hold events for UNICEF, Shah stated. The high school UNICEF community is tight knit, allowing for ideas to be shared between chapters, Shah explained.
“We have a lot of ideas bouncing off of each other in the high school UNICEF community,” Shah said. “If one school is doing one kind of fundraiser, we’ll try and do that [one], so we get inspiration from [other high schools].”
UNICEF is an outlet for many to help give back to causes that they are passionate about and coincide with their own values, Chuang said. UNICEF is a combined effort towards helping others in underprivileged countries, Chuang explained.
“I chose to do UNICEF because I have always been really passionate about helping kids,” Chuang said. “It was a club that really aligned with my values, so freshman year I started and I really enjoyed [UNICEF] and it also [helped me give] back to the community.”
People who aren’t involved in UNICEF are able to make a difference by contributing donations to the South chapter as well, Chuang explained.
“UNICEF has been giving back to the South community by providing an outlet for people to contribute to something that they care about,” Chuang said. “[UNICEF] helps the community, not just the South, [one] but the Glenview community as a whole.”
