Serving the community from the comforts of home
By Bertina Fan and Manasa Sriraj Oct. 15, 2020

Caro Nguyen Art
The world has seen major transformations in the past six months: a contagious virus spread, an economic depression occurred and disastrous fires scorched acres of land. However, in the midst of this, clubs at the school—namely Journey Around the World (JAW) Nonprofit and Music Club—spearheaded virtual volunteering projects during the summer to help aid local communities.
“During the pandemic, it is even harder for the less fortunate to access essential resources. We wanted to find more ways to make a difference.”
JAW aims to provide equal opportunities for everyone by breaking the race, gender and socioeconomic barriers prevalent in society. Since their initial summer plans to travel to Cambodia and teach at the Doris Dillon School were disrupted by the pandemic, they came up with a safer way to continue their work and help the community: by expanding the club to an online platform.
After establishing a partnership with LifeMoves—a homeless shelter in downtown San Jose that strives to provide homes for its members’ families—Junior Varsha Shankar, the founder of JAW, created a GoFundMe page to raise money and help assist the residents.
“Especially during the pandemic, it is even harder for the less fortunate to access essential resources. We wanted to find more ways to make a difference during this time, and LifeMoves’s honorable mission really appealed to us,” Shankar said.
JAW raised over $800 through their GoFundMe. Most of the money went towards food, but a smaller portion was used to buy masks, sanitation supplies and hygiene products.
Poll: Would you rather do virtual or in-person volunteering? In-Person: 60% Virtual: 40%
164 Students Polled
Shankar looks forward to conducting more virtual fundraisers via GoFundMe to help those in need lead more comfortable lifestyles. She also hopes her club will gain more opportunities to collaborate with other organizations like the Malala Fund.
Meanwhile, Junior Brandon Kwon, Vice President of Music Club, geared his initiative towards a different demographic: elementary school kids in Almaden who share his love for music. Kwon states that Music Club decided to conduct a virtual summer camp in order to continue working towards their mission of introducing people to the joy and thrill of music.
“Many kids are involved in music just for the reputation-building aspect of it, specifically winning competitions. However, our club wants kids to understand that music is also a way to express emotions in a creative, unique and meaningful way,” Kwon said.
Over the course of the one-week camp, five instructors worked with 25 students in two-hour long classes to help them master three musical pieces. During the first hour, students received music lessons for various instruments like cello, piano and violin; during the second hour, students learned how to utilize Soundtrap to produce their own recordings. At the end of the week, a virtual recital was held to showcase the students’ learnings.
“Our club wants kids to understand that music is also a way to express emotions in a creative, unique and meaningful way.”
In the future, Music Club aspires to assist the community by partnering with low-income schools and making this program a regular extracurricular class held on Zoom. Kids without instruments will concentrate on creating music with Soundtrap while those with instruments will perform virtually for senior centers over Zoom.
About the Contributors

Bertina Fan
Staff Writer
Bertina Fan is a sophomore at Leland High School and is a staff writer for The Charger Account. She likes to start off messages with "ヾ(°∇°*) Hi!"

Manasa Sriraj
Staff Writer
Manasa Sriraj is a freshman at Leland High School and a first year staff writer for the Charger Account. She is a STEM, puzzle, and geography freak and loves torturing her friends by spamming and "Rickrolling" on group chats. Her hobbies include listening to music, playing basketball, composing guitar songs, experimenting with snack recipes, and building Rube Goldberg machines out of Legos and other regular household objects.
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