Students come together to raise funds for Ukraine

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Kaelyn Jones

Kyle Jensen, senior, member of the Math Honor Society, after students voted to pie him in addition to four teachers.

Students are no strangers to standing up for what they believe in. From organizing public Black Lives Matter protests to walkouts in honor of the Columbine Shooting to protesting health curriculums in schools, students have a history of coming together when it matters. 

This week, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, students have been working to support Ukrainians in need. 

From Mar. 14-18, the Feminism Club is selling cookies and donating the money they earn to the “Stand with Ukraine” fund on GoFundMe. The fundraiser has partnered with Flexport and Airbnb to help refugees find places to live and provide them with relief supplies. 

“Most of the people who have been displaced are women and children, and as a whole, that’s where the funds are going, to displaced people,” said Ava Wu, co-captain of the Feminism Club. “Everyone everywhere should care about it. This is a human rights crisis.”

The cookies will be sold for $3 each on Student Street during lunch and after school all of this week. Additional donations are encouraged as well. “We don’t really have a specific goal [for funds] in mind, we really just want to help as much as we possibly can,” stated Wu. 

The Math National Honor Society also worked to create an engaging fundraiser for Ukraine. In honor of Pi Day, the students involved arranged to accept donations; and each dollar earned counts as a point towards a teacher of your choice being pie’d. The four teachers with the most money donated to their name will be pie’d on Mar. 16. 

The fundraiser was set up in the library and accepted donations at lunch, before school, and after school from Mar. 14-15. Over the course of two days, $1,158 was raised. Mr. Egan won first place, with $318. 

The funds will be donated to the International Red Cross and sent towards supporting Ukrainian refugees. “ICRC water engineers and doctors aim to help more than 3 million people access clean water and improve the living conditions of more than 66,000 whose homes have been damaged by heavy fighting,” the International Red Cross website said. 

Outside of these organized fundraisers, there are more ways individuals can aid the relief efforts for Ukraine. “Students can continue their support by staying aware of current events and the situation in Ukraine,” Wu said. “They can also donate to other organizations and talk to their parents about donating.”

[The pictures online] are proof that this wasn’t just some video of war you watched in history class, something distant and something you couldn’t do anything to affect. This was happening right now. Seeing that, how could you not want to help?

— Ava Wu