From November 11 to November 20, Godwin teachers had an unremarkable box at the front of their respective classrooms. What makes those boxes significant, however, is the reason for their placement.
BETA club, a student-run organization for seniors that focuses on community support and outreach to organize food drives every year, boxes all of the canned goods donated by students and teachers for families in need.
According to Godwin history teacher and BETA club sponsor, Jonathan Lauder, the goods will be given to 1500 families in the community. As first year sponsor of Beta club, Lauder hopes to be active in a variety of service opportunities, mostly involving collection drives for those in need.
While Lauder is sponsor of the club, it is still mostly a student-run organization, with decisions being made by the members and officers of the club
When asked about the kinds of things members of BETA club do for the food drive, BETA club officer, Kate Lilly, had this to say: “Organizing the food drive has been a lot of work to take on.
I went to a virtual faculty meeting to tell the staff about [the food drive], other officers spent time designing flyers, and making sign ups for beta club members to go to first period classes and spread word about the food drive.”
The food drive ended on Tuesday, November 20, and yielded a successful turnout. According to Godwin associate principal Miindy Guyer, the classes with the most cans were Anna Bryant, Rebecca Martino, Jessica Harvey, and Jonathan Lauder.
When asked about reasons for Joining BETA club, Lauder said, “What could be better than joining a club that helps others? We hope you’ll join us as long as you’re a senior in good academic standing.”
This sentiment was expressed by Colin Mulroe, a member of the club. “There’s a lot of reasons. It feels good to help out people in need, knowing that you can make a difference in your immediate community.”
BETA club members are not exactly sure of their plans for the rest of the year, but they definitely pan for more community outreach, and are asking fellow students for help on ideas. “As of right now, we don’t have anything planned for the rest of the year, but we plan on coming up with ideas and asking for inspiration from others,” said Lilly.
So, the power is in us, the student body, to help our seniors and suggest potential drives, events, and fundraisers for BETA club to organize.
