Submitted by: Jessenia Class, Union High School Junior
Education is not always delivered on a silver platter to those who seek to reap its benefits. In the United States, public school may be offered free of charge (save taxes) for the individual, but in other countries, students are not always so serendipitous. They have to work hard to pay for their education, and without the money allocated towards this goal, they may fall short of the advantages of learning and may be forced to work physically laboring jobs which may be dangerous to their overall health.
In efforts to prevent this, the Union High School Key Club partnered with a nonprofit organization called Yuda Bands for its last service project of the year. Yuda Bands is an organization based in Guatemala focused on helping young impoverished children finish their education, since free public education ends at 6th grade in the country. The organization helps fundraise the costs by selling bracelets handmade by the participants in Guatemala and using the revenue from the sales to help these children get an education – deriving their name from their sole purpose, Yuda being the abbreviated form of ayuda, the Spanish word for help.
In their first endeavors to sponsor a budding student without bias, the officers of Key Club randomly chose Astrid Quiroa to support on her journey to finish high school. As a sixteen-year-old girl without a father and with younger siblings for her mother to support, Astrid faced dropping out of school to help the family monetarily if she could not receive help from Yuda Bands – and this is where Key Club stepped in to help out.
With about 175 bands at $7 each, it took only two days for the bracelets to sell out and for Astrid’s goal to be reached. By the purchases of the bands and donations from students and staff alike, Astrid Quiroa could finish high school without fear of having to drop out because of a lack of funds.
The UHS Key Club would like to thank everyone who donated to the cause or who purchased a bracelet for making Astrid’s dreams a reality, and hope in the upcoming service year that they, through the participation of the student body and staff, can continue to make these wishes come true for more aspiring students through Yuda Bands.
