The “Got $10?” Club had their first fundraising event at the district-wide Fall Choral Classic, held at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church on October 11. The club members sold baked treats before the concert, which included festive Halloween sugar cookies and homemade brownies.

The club is raising money for impoverished elementary school children in India. “$10 is enough to feed a child in India for a year, which is hard to believe, but true,” explained club president sophomore Sahaana Rajesh.

According to club members Shannon Crosby and Tamar Weiss, selling the baked goods at night proved challenging, as the faulty outside lights of the church made it difficult to see. “We tried to use our phone lights, but it was hard to sell stuff because the lights outside kept flickering on and off,” said Crosby.

There was also some confusion as many concertgoers approached the fundraiser thinking it was the ticket table. “People kept coming up to us running to get a ticket and then we’d have to redirect them,” added Weiss. 

Despite these setbacks, the club collected $161 after just 45 minutes. The club did not have a set goal going into the fundraiser, but Rajesh was happy with the result. “It wasn’t amazing, but I think it was a good start for our 1st fundraiser, only a week after our 1st meeting,” she said.

Rajesh was inspired to start the club by a summer trip to India, where she worked at an elementary school for 2 weeks. Rajesh noticed that the school was in desperate need of funding, as it was located in a poor part of the city. “When I got back, my family and I decided that we needed to do something to help,” said Rajesh.

The money will go to the Aarambh organization, a non-profit charity headed by Shobha Murthy that provides health and educational support to underprivileged women and children in India. Rajesh’s goal for the club is to raise $1,500 before the end of the school year in May. “If we helped [the school] collect more money, they could open it up more so that more kids could have the chance to learn and eat,” she said.

In addition to helping the children in India, Rajesh’s goals for her club are to make it fun and enjoyable for members. She wants her club to be a legitimate organization that conducts events and serves a purpose, rather than one of the campus clubs that exists in name only for the purse of padding student resumes. “I want it to be different because I want to get people who are actually focused on making an impact and helping the children that I worked with,” said Rajesh.