As Octagon Club prepares to kick start another year, the officers are in the process of planning the year’s events. Their closest event is pie toss, an activity happening on Friday, Nov. 2, an Octagon tradition where students pay money and line up to throw a pie in a selected teacher’s face; all the money gets donated to the American Cancer Society.

Clara Shen, senior and president of the club, believes events like pie toss are both fun for members and help the community. As a part of Octagon for four years, Shen has realized the value in even the smallest events.

“My favorite part of Octagon is getting to make new connections with people of all backgrounds at our events, from students at Monta Vista to 90-year-olds,” Shen said. “In everything we do, it is not just volunteering, but an opportunity to grow and have a great time with the other volunteers.”

The club members say they work hard to make sure the monthly events run smoothly and there are enough so everyone gets a chance to participate in at least one of the 11.

“Our main goal is to provide our members with a wide range of opportunities [and] events for them to attend whenever they wish to throughout the year…Our volunteers are able to experience what it is like to curate a major event and take on leadership in many different ways.” Shen said.

Octagon has over 600 members, which makes it extremely important that there are enough events for everyone to volunteer at events they are interested in. Junior Aditi Mukkara, a director of membership and one out of seven officers, adds that the top events include the pie toss, Cure Cancer Caffe (CCC), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and other fall festivals like the Monster Bash.

“I think we give them a lot of fun chances to get hours and we do all kinds of things, a lot of which are really fun,” Mukkara said. “Some of them are just for fun and some are a lot more meaningful, like serving people who are less fortunate than you.”

Sophomore Sammy Banerjee, a second year member who joined Octagon following in the footsteps of his older sister, agrees with Mukkara regarding the wide variety of events, and he believes that Octagon can help members play a bigger role in the community.

“Being a part of something bigger that you know is influencing and helping people that need just a little extra,” Banerjee said. “That’s what Octagon is all about.”