by:  Nick Smaldone

We’ve all been there. We’ve all seen that commercial. “In the arms of the angels…. For just the price of a cup of a coffee a day you can save a child’s life…” and we’ve never changed the channel faster. Donating through the TV is confusing and we don’t want to see those sad pictures in the middle of watching some movie.

Well now here at our very own Westborough High School there is a way to help kids all around the world in an easy, positive, and fun environment. UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, now has a club at WHS!

UNICEF works in over 190 countries with goals such as child survival, whether dealing with hunger or protection, and rights related issues, such as gender and education, along with a multitude of other specific problems that affect children around the world. UNICEF is a well known organization that has been providing aid for over 70 years. For example in 2011, UNICEF introduced an initiative to end preventable death before five; by 2012 14,000 fewer children were dying each day.

Here in Westborough, the club has three main goals:   awareness (of UNICEFs work), education, and fundraising. We also want to educate WHS on the many issues facing children worldwide.  And finally we want to fundraise year round to help the children faced by these issues.

“It can be pretty easy to feel helpless when the extent of your travel is confined to central Massachusetts,” secretary junior Kate Heffernan says, “but I want our club to be able to change that feeling in students and find a way to help those in trouble regardless of distance.”

The other officers of the club are:  junior Samantha Hogan (president), junior Nick Smaldone  (vice president), and junior Omar Siddiqui (treasurer).  The advisor is Mrs. Stoker.

The club’s first meeting is on September 12 in room C-115.  If you have any questions, please email the officers at [email protected].