Highlanders with Heart, a club focusing on giving back to the community, continues to support the less fortunate. In the first month of school, an idea in two freshmen’s heads about starting their own club turned into being able to give winter coats to children in need.
Although the club faced challenges along the road, having over 100 coat donations equated to unlimited fulfillment for Sarah Zehms and Blake Mayne, freshman presidents.
“We have done two fundraisers this year, but our bigger one was collecting coats for kids. This fundraiser helped kids in need to have a coat for the cold winter. For our club, we became more bonded with the preparation of the event,” Mayne explains.
Throughout meetings, drives, and fundraisers, Highlanders With Heart focuses on the positive, and can be seen as an expanding club.
“I see this club growing throughout their high school years as they are motivated and energetic leaders!” Molly Navarre, freshman counselor and Highlanders with Heart club faculty advisor, said.
Highlanders with Heart came to be during the first few weeks of school while Zehms and Mayne were talking to their friend’s father with his own non-profit organization.
“He asked me what my special spot was when it came to volunteering, and I didn’t quite know. So, starting a club that fundraises for many different topics sparked in my mind. I was very intrigued with the idea and honestly joyous with the thought,” Mayne shared.
Pitching off that idea, Zehms and Mayne decided to go into deeper thought about the idea of starting their own club.
“Blake and Sarah were passionate about starting a club like this. They’ve initiated and organized two drives this year: Coats For Kids and a drive for the Wisconsin Humane Society. I see this club growing throughout their high school years as they are motivated and energetic leaders,” Navarre said.
Although they liked the idea of starting their own club, Zehms and Mayne started to get worried about certain aspects of their club’s creation that could cause bumps in the road.
“One challenge I have faced while creating my own club is attracting people to the club and having those people fully participate. Another challenge is finding specific organizations to help fundraise,” Mayne said.
In addition to attracting people, the club member count was low, and in order to do big things, Zehms said they needed bigger numbers.
“We were definitely scared to start the club, because there are a lot of other clubs run by people in higher grades with way more experience than us,” Zehms explained.
Both Zehms and Mayne hope to solve these challenges and grow their club over their entire highschool career.
“I am 100% planning on continuing the club through all four years of Homestead. There are so many different fundraisers to choose from, and many organizations all with different purposes,” Mayne stated.
As the club hopes to expand their services, they welcome and encourage anybody interested in helping their community. At the end of this school year, the club aims to do a drive to fundraise school supplies for third world countries, including Jamaica.
