You haven’t seen huge until you’ve been to an Octagon meeting.

The volunteering giant is now back in action after seeing major success in fundraising during the 2014-15 year. Octagon’s first meeting on Sept. 14 saw a turnout of around 200 veteran and prospective members, and the bright pink donut boxes lined up at the front tables of the Student Center appeared to make the students sitting on the floor hungry for more than just member applications.

“It was really crowded, and people stole like five donuts so it was really unfair,” freshman Antara Palkar said at the end of the meeting. “The people sitting around me were really loud, but the people up there running the meeting seemed cool, so whatever.”

Members crowded outside the small space in front of the Student Center door as the officers sneaked through the side doors of the gym with stacks of sweaters and donuts, the crowd bursting through when the door finally opened.

“The people sitting around me were really loud, but the people up there running the meeting seemed cool, so whatever.”

– Antara Palkar

“If you want to be a part of one of the largest clubs on campus, you’re at the right place!” pitched officer senior Arpit Jasapara, as the noise began to settle and the meeting commenced.

A brief overview of the events coming up and the benefits of joining the club followed, and dark blue Octagon sweaters flew around as students guessed different trivia questions correctly, among which the biggest and most emphasized during the meeting was how much money was raised the previous year.

“Last year we doubled our revenue for CCC,” said senior Mark Geha, this year’s Co-President along with senior Sayi Boddu, as people lined up for donuts at the end of the meeting. “We went from 6K to 12K, so our goal is to bump that up a little more and hopefully get above 300,000 overall.”

The enormous amount is not short of a reality for this club, as they have hit close in previous years and donated all profits to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, the majority of it coming from their annual Cure Cancer Cafe.

“What’s great about CCC is that it’s for a good cause, but it’s also a really good experience,” Vice President senior Obaid Chintamen said.

The goal to raise money for leukemia is overarching in the efforts of both the officers and the members. Apart from promoting being a good student and citizen in general, the fight to aid cancer research is dominant in the club.

“I’ve heard [Octagon] has a lot of fundraisers for Cancer Societies,” Palkar said, “and I feel bad for cancer patients, so I feel this is a really good way to try and help.”