Red Cross held its first meeting during lunch on Sept. 9 in room B103. The officers introduced themselves and highlighted Red Cross’ mission statement and the volunteer opportunities that would be available throughout the year.

Club president and senior Anusikha Halder wants to make Red Cross a more prominent club on campus this year. She had noticed that in the Bay Area, Red Cross is thought of as an international crisis response charity that offers aid in third-word countries and to victims of natural disasters. However, Halder wants Red Cross to be recognized for the services it offers the Bay Area as well.

“We have a reputation of being an international organization but I don’t think a lot of people know about the Red Cross’ influence here.” Halder said. “[For example], in California, we make sure people have smoke alarms, and that people are CPR certified. I wanted to make sure everyone knew about that and [I thought I could do that] if I took on a leadership role.”

Public relations manager and junior Tajin Syed also wants to increase Red Cross’ visibility at MVHS. Syed explains that she has been promoting Red Cross to her friends and classmates ever since she joined in sophomore year, which is why she is excited to step into her new role.

“I want to change the club a little bit,” Syed said. “This year, I really want sweatshirts to come out so we can really represent through our clothes and merchandise. I want the people in this club to get out, join committees and find the one that they want to pursue.”

Similarly, officer and junior Aadria Bagchi also wants to increase involvement among the new members and empower MVHS Red Cross members to be involved in chapter-level events, or events that are less localized. She wants to expand MVHS’ Red Cross so that members can become a larger part of the national Red Cross community.

“This year, I have more ‘power,’ so I want to make the members be more involved in events at the chapter level, [such as] the Veteran’s Day parade or cooking food for homeless people,” Bagchi said. “I really want to see more members from MVHS being present at the chapter events.”

Halder’s overall goal as club president is to boost enthusiasm and involvement. She explains that while people were involved in events last year, she wants to motivate the new members to sign up for as many events as they can, to expand the club’s scope.

“Last year, we had some events, but not enough in my opinion,” Halder said. “We want to get more chapter involvement. I’m going to try and get all my members CPR certified for free, because there’s a promotion that’s happening right now. There was some involvement last year but I want more.”