Give a warm welcome to one of the newest clubs at Charter: the American Red Cross. The Red Cross club aims to help people in need worldwide and teach members useful medical skills.
Before this year, Pines Charter’s only health-related clubs were HOSA and Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT). The founder of the new club, Erioluwa Fatimilehin, wanted to create a new club since “I’ve always had an interest in working in the medical field.” Using her passion as inspiration, Fatimilehin wanted to ensure that students were given additional opportunities to gain volunteer hours while learning about the medical field and doing hands-on activities.
“What first started it is that I knew I wanted to make a medical-related club in the school, I just didn’t really know what. I just kept researching what type of medical clubs I could do in school and what kept coming up was the American Red Cross Club. That’s what started the club up and I knew I was gonna do that for sure,” she explained.
After getting the green light from Mrs. Battle, she began to assemble the club’s board. This process, in particular, took a long time because of the fact that “I knew there were a lot of qualified people that signed up and applied for that position,” Fatimilehin expressed. It quickly became a challenge for her as she wanted to find the right person who would fit each of the appropriate roles.
The Red Cross’s main goal for the 2024-2025 school year is to blossom into a well-known organization within Pines Charter. Fatimilehin also hopes to “[Have] a lot of volunteer opportunities; even if people can at least get 10 volunteer hours I definitely think that’s something I’d want to do this year.” Aside from all the events the club plans on hosting, Fatimilehin wants to do “[A] hands-on CPR [class] where people get to learn to do CPR and hopefully at the end of the year [the club] can get some people CPR certified.” Committee lead Catalina Castro also revealed that “Additionally… [they] will be crocheting blankets and hats for those who are underprivileged during the winter times.”
The Red Cross club overall intends to have a very engaging year through social media, meetings, and collaborations with other Charter clubs. Students will then be able to learn new information and further partner with other institutions such as Kids of Love, a non-profit organization that provides aid to children with cancer and other disabilities.
The American Red Cross club is ready for the year to unroll, and they are thrilled to introduce PPCHS students to a new aspect of medical and service work.
