“Everyone should feel safe, happy, and healthy in this world and our club aims to make those aspirations come true one step at a time.”

Glenbard West features over 70 clubs, ranging from volunteer work to special interest groups and even to bass fishing. But do you know about Glenbard Global Giving?

Glenbard Global Giving was a popular former club here at West. Recently, senior Morgan Lemke and junior Rebecca Gathof inquired about starting the club up again, asking Mr. Kim, a chemistry teacher, to be the new sponsor.

Rebecca Gathof, current Co-President with Morgan Lemke, describes the organization simply as a group of people that “aim[s] to support countries in need” and a way to “learn[…] about all the problems that various countries face.”

Beyond that, Rebecca and Morgan have three main goals for the club: “ 1.) Educate Glenbard West students about the problems that other countries face and get them involved in current events 2.) Help those less fortunate than us (even if we are making small steps towards creating a more ideal world, it’s better than nothing) 3.) Spread the word about giving globally.”

Overall, the club aims to get everyone involved, even if that means you are not a member of Global Giving whatsoever. “Even if students aren’t involved in GGG (Glenbard Global Giving), we want to encourage people to go out and help those in need,” Rebecca expressed.

Still, what does Glenbard Global Giving do here at West? Recently, early planning meetings have been held to gain popularity, spread the word, and gather members to the club. At these meetings, the members of Global Giving “discuss global issues and every month [they] try and tackle a country as a group.”

On the more recent end, the very first fundraiser was a great success. Rebecca shared that they “collected spare change to improve education conditions in Kenya – it really was based upon the group as a whole and it turned out really well!” 

So how can you become involved? The club sponsor is Mr. Kim, and the meetings are held about every Wednesday at 7:15 in room SC201. At these meetings, you can grab a glimpse of the events to come, what the club has planned for the remainder of the year, and get a start on some new service projects and opportunities.

Although Glenbard West features so many clubs, Glenbard Global Giving is definitely one you should try. Not only does it give you a chance to help people in need on the other side of the world, but it allows you to serve, dedicate, and, most importantly, give from here in Glen Ellyn.