Maria Gonzalez is a senior at Glendale High School. She was born and raised in El Salvador and moved to Glendale three years ago. Maria enjoys the city of Glendale but wishes it were less expensive to live here, which many of us would agree with. She also misses being with her family all the time, as she was accustomed to having family around her growing up. She also enjoys self-care, listening to music, dressing up, doing her makeup and going out.
On campus, Maria is the social media manager of the Spanish Club, a member of Nitro Crew, Key Club, and Save the Seas Club, and the founder and president of the Charity and Community (C&C) Club at GHS.
Maria started the C&C Club in hopes of helping people get their medals for hours of community service. It has been hard for her to find community service opportunities outside of school, and she wanted this club to be an outlet for people struggling with the same issue.
The people behind this club include Samantha Chicas as vice president, Kelly Ohanian as secretary, and Milena Ataian as treasurer and social media manager. Maria feels “incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by a dedicated group of young women” to help lead this club.
At monthly meetings, Maria and her cabinet members pick one or two charities to support. They also provide their members with information on several community service opportunities each week. Vice President Samantha Chicas is more focused on finding charities that they can support, and Maria is more focused on community service opportunities.
Maria explained that the C&C cabinet members research new opportunities to put out each week. This means that they go to websites and Instagram pages, and they pulse local resources, like the Glendale Public Library, to find which organizations need volunteers.
Once they have identified some potential opportunities, Maria thoroughly investigates the organizations based on their background, the service provider, and the nature of the activity. This way, Maria ensures that each one is legitimate and that it is safe for her club members to volunteer there.
Then, social media manager Melina Ataian shares this information to engage students and club members. They can potentially offer students several hours of community service every few weeks.
Club members donate clothes, toys, food, and blankets to different charities, and Samantha handles the rest. With community service, Maria provides the link, location, and date of each opportunity. She strives to make sure these places are reliable and accessible to all students.
Since Maria is graduating this year, she is hoping to pass the club down to her treasurer, Kelly Ohanian. Maria just wants to be able to help students get their community service medals since it can be difficult at times. If you would like to join the C&C Club right now, follow them on Instagram: @cncclubghs, and you can join their Remind and their Google Classroom!
