Recently, a new club at Bowie was created to help kids in need. Kate Oelkers, the president of the new club at bowie, Children’s Hospital Volunteer Club, strives to help kids at local hospitals.

“I was really wanting to start a club. And I wasn’t really sure what club to start. And I just thought that there’s a lot of hospitals that need a lot of donations and a lot of kids who would like some of our gestures,” Oelkers said. 

The Children Volunteer Club is a club made to connect Bowie students with kids who are less fortunate and it’s a great opportunity to get volunteer hours. In fact, members can get an hour of service hours for each meeting they attend.

“The Club is a Children’s Hospital volunteer club. And we pretty much just volunteer at hospitals and try and brighten the kids days throughout the year,” Oelkers said.“The main goal of the Children’s Hospital volunteer club is to raise children spirits throughout the whole year. And on holidays.”

This can affect Bowie in lots of ways. Mr. Parente, the club sponsor, believes it will create a sense of awareness for all students involved in the club. 

“And there are already things that have kind of come up that are just like, wow, that’s interesting. I never knew that about something like a child who has a terminal illness or something like that at the Children’s Hospital. They just didn’t realize before, so I think it is going to bring a whole new level of awareness to what’s going on,” Parente said.

An active member of the club, Aine Flaherty believes that the club will remind us of how lucky we are to help children in need.

“I think the club will impact Bowie by allowing us as students to give back and put us into perspective on how fortunate the majority of us are,” Aine said. “I think the club will affect the hospitals by giving the children something to smile about or distract them for what is going on with their health.”

The club plans to give back to the community for every major holiday.

“Well, we will be making candy bags for Halloween and in our October meeting, And then in February, we’re going to be making cards in little goodie bags for the children. And we’re also going to be having a toy drive coming up in December. And we’re going to try and volunteer at the hospital later this spring,” Kate Oelkers said.

Even though some details are still being worked out, for the club to actually visit a hospital, it’s a great opportunity that you definitely shouldn’t miss out on.

“I joined CHVS because I really like to give back to other people, especially people who are less fortunate, and the feeling of making someone’s day better makes me feel accomplished for the things I am doing,” Flaherty said. “People should join the club because it looks really good for colleges, and it’s helping out the lives of other children who are less fortunate as us.”