UNICEF hosted water walk Oct. 23

Katlynn Fox, Editor-In-Chief|October 28, 2019

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Junior Sydney Brinkley carries 45 pounds of water on her shoulders as she walks outside in front of the cafeteria. Brinkley joined UNICEF after hearing about the club from co-president Chu. “UNICEF at Hebron isn’t a big club, but the impact UNICEF has on children around the world is,” Brinkley said. “Every donation, whether big or small, makes an impact on someone else’s life.”

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) club held its first event, the water walk, on Oct. 23 during block lunch in front of the annex. The walk raised funds by having students pledge a certain amount of money per yard they walk. 

 UNICEF is an international organization that provides resources to children and mothers in need. The purpose of the club is to raise awareness for the poor living conditions around the world and to help by raising money to provide them with natural disaster relief, healthcare, clean water, nutrition and protection from whatever vulnerable situation they may be facing. 

“The walk is supposed to represent how people have to walk for miles just to get two buckets of water,” co-president junior Jocelyn Chu said. “So for each yard you walk, you can pledge 50 cents or a dollar, which adds up. All of our members are going to participate, but we are trying to get other students involved by making posters and advertising.”

Co-president Chu helps student lift the water on to their shoulders. Students made pledges for every yard they walked and are supposed to have them turned in no later than Nov. 6. “UNICEF is donating all the profits to the bigger organization to help children get education in other countries,” senior representative Ashley Kendrick said. “In my opinion this event is a really fun way for students to get involved in other clubs or organizations because it’s hands on.”

The club was established by Chu and junior Sarah Park, who are co-presidents. They wanted to start a club that would benefit their peers or younger students through community service. The members typically meet on Wednesday during A block at lunch.

“It was difficult because we had to start from nothing, so we had to find an advisor, find people who would be interested in doing this with us and we had to get approval from a lot of authorities to just get it started,” Park said. “We also had to develop point systems that will allow people to earn cords for graduation.”

Co-presidents Jocelyn Chu and Sarah Park watch as students participate in the water walk, which was held to symbolize how far people in less developed countries have to walk in order to retrieve water. The students had the opportunity to carry either 45 or 80 pounds of water on their shoulders. “I feel like Hebron students really came out here to support us,” UNICEF sponsor Blake Bogus said. “Any event you do you’re going to get a good turnout because people want to help other people.”

In addition to creating an inclusive club, both girls value the importance of giving back to various communities and wanted to make sure their organization contributed to the welfare of children specifically. 

 “While other clubs may focus on volunteering or just helping people in general, we help children because as teens we can relate to them more,” Chu said. “Some of them are even the same age as us, they just don’t have the same benefits that we do.”