While many fundraisers ask for monetary donations, Voluntourism’s “Miracles for Marklund” charity drive took a different approach as they aimed to support the local community. From Feb. 2 to Feb. 6, the service-based club asked people to donate anything from cardstock paper to light-up toys to support those with physical and mental challenges.
Marklund is a nonprofit organization that provides support for children and adults experiencing developmental disabilities. They aim to improve the everyday life of people who encounter these struggles by offering residential services, education and fun events to promote community involvement.
“[Marklund] basically [helps] provide living and activities for children or just people in general with disabilities, and they host a bunch of activities like walks to try and get them more involved in the community. It’s just a really nice thing,” said sophomore Keya Patel, co-president of Voluntourism.
With many responsibilities and people to care for, Marklund appreciates any way people can get involved, including volunteering, donating and participating in special events.
“I feel like it’s a lot on their plate to try and get the amenities and utilities for all these people,” said Patel, “so just to kind of help provide for one of the people, it would make it easier on them.”
After encountering the Marklund community and recognizing an opportunity to help out, sophomore Aria Bhate, co-president of Voluntourism, reached out to the organization to see if they were interested in having a donation drive at North.
“Marklund’s something that kind of always spoke out to me a little bit because my uncle has disabilities, and we were kind of thinking of putting him into that care. And so I’ve kind of been around that area a little bit,” said Bhate. “You can always tell they’re trying to scrape [together] what they have left, or they’re trying to always have access. They’re always trying to save up. And I felt like, well, we can try to help them out, because I know a lot of people here could absolutely just spare a couple of Expo markers or something just as simple as that.”
Bhate and Patel advertised the fundraiser by hanging posters up around the school. The posters featured a list of possible donations, including everyday items such as shampoo and toothbrushes as well as craft supplies and fidget toys. Items could then be dropped off in boxes in front of the CCR office, Student Life office or the cafeteria.
Though hosting a donation event such as “Miracles for Marklund” is new for Voluntourism, the club works with a variety of nonprofit organizations in the community to provide for people in need. Past volunteering opportunities include making dog and cat toys and writing cards for veterans, senior citizens and hospitalized children.
“[Voluntourism is] group based, but it’s also individual based,” said Patel. “We’ll let you know any volunteer opportunities [and] how to kind of get enrolled into them, and you can volunteer on your own time, too.”
Voluntourism hopes to continue expanding, especially as they gain new members. In the future, Bhate and Patel aim to continue hosting fundraisers such as “Miracles for Marklund” in order to give back to the community.
“I think this club focuses more on the community, and there hasn’t really been as many people, I think, to broadcast in previous years,” said Bhate. “But now we’ve gotten a little bit more of a standard of people that come to the meetings, so we want to kind of include everyone.”
Voluntourism meets once a month on Tuesday from 2:20-3 p.m. in room 131. Students interested in volunteering can reach out to Bhate or Patel or attend the next meeting on March 10.
