On Feb. 15, Leo Club met to discuss the upcoming volunteering opportunities and emphasized the importance of following the club on its varying social media platforms, such as Instagram, in order to remain updated at all times.

As a senior, Leo Club president Rahul Sawney looks back into his first year of being a member of the volunteering club and reflects on his experiences.

“I originally joined for [the] pizza, [and] the first volunteer event I went to was the Kennedy fall fest,” Sawney said. “I really enjoyed just hanging out with friends [and] doing good stuff for the community. I figured I might as well keep going.”

Sawney expresses that one of the main reasons why he enjoys being a part of Leo Club is because many other high schools also have their own Leo Club, making this volunteering organization large.

According to Lions International, there are more than 175,000 members and 7,000 Leo Clubs worldwide. Multiple volunteering or donation projects are completed by varying Leo Clubs per year. Sawney was inspired by MVHS Octagon Club’s Cure Cancer Cafe project, which raised money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and he strives to complete a similar project in the second semester of the 2019 school year.

While Sawney was motivated to join the volunteering club due to the fun events, senior and event coordinator Jennifer Xu stresses that the reason why she continues to be a part of the club is because making the club a community has always been the officers’ priority.  

“We always have socials bi-monthly and we have people socializing,” Xu said. “You play games and I feel like that makes [Leo Club] much more of a community.”

Xu believes that creating a fun, social atmosphere in Leo Club allows people to be inspired to join not just for college applications, but also to meet new people.

Vice president and junior Ted Chai echos Xu’s emphasis on the importance of bonding in Leo Club.

“Aside from what we’ve given back to the community and just the objective number of hours we’ve racked up, what I’ve heard from members [about why they like Leo Club is] the experiences volunteering alongside their friends as well as getting to know members,” Chai said. “For me personally, that’s been my biggest takeaway from the club and the reason why I still love the club after three years.”

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