“Give to learn, learn to give.” That’s the official motto of RM’s Givology club, which hosted its first bake sale of the year in front of Dawson’s Market last Saturday. The surprisingly warm and sunny December weather made it a perfect day to stand outside. Led by club president Sarah Morgan, the group set up a table with hundreds of baked goods, both homemade and store bought. Rocket Music Collective was also on the scene to provide some Christmas tunes to attract more potential customers.
The RM chapter of Givology club is one of 90 Givology clubs operating in high schools across the U.S. Created by students at the University of Pennsylvania in 2008, the purpose of Givology club, as described on its website, is to “make quality education accessible for all children.” This is done through donations received on its website or through fundraisers such as Saturday’s bake sale. As of now, Givology has raised almost $500,000 for 263 students in third world countries.
The bake sale started slow, but business soon picked up as more and more people came out of their homes in the evening to go shopping or simply enjoy an a walk in Rockville Town Center. A few of the club members present at the sale decided to take the initiative and walk around the ice skating rink bringing the sales directly to the customer. “I think that having people walk around with trays of baked goods was one of the most useful things we did,” said Morgan. “It increased the amount of potential customers by so much.” Since the baked goods were all sold by donation, there was no set price. This helped contribute to the final total as some people kindly donated $20 for a single brownie or for nothing in return.
Although the club was only out for two hours, they were able to raise about $250–$50 more than last year. “This year we are going to be able to donate to multiple students, which is really cool,” Morgan added. “In past years the club has only donated to one student.” Vice President Ardeshir Youssef also considered the sale a success, stating that “members brought way more [baked goods] than expected, but people wanted to buy stuff, so we still raised a lot of money.”
Despite the success of its first fundraiser, club members believe there is still room for improvement. “I think this year we kind of rushed,” Youssef said. “If we just advertise the club better, maybe more people could be involved.”
The next fundraiser date has not yet been set in stone. However, the club’s Krispy Kreme fundraiser is currently in the planning stage.
To learn more on how you can participate, feel free to email the RM chapter of Givology at [email protected]
