Some people don’t know how to get started in doing community service, but fortunately, ‘Iolani offers many different service clubs for students to participate in. As students scramble to do community service for college applications, interest in service clubs grows. Clubs at ‘Iolani have gone through changes, resulting in many shifting their mission statements to align with club values and encouraging new members to join.
According to the Mayo Clinic, volunteer work improves mental and physical health, teaches new skills and encourages new relations with people. As Ms. Candice Sakuda ’95, Director of the Community and Civic Engagement Office, said, “You get to meet other people and do fun things; research shows that it leaves you feeling better afterward. It’s good for your mental health.” She encourages others to help the community and, in doing so, help themselves.
This past summer, Manca Sustarsic, a professor at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, introduced Star Q.’28 to the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council (PAAC). She was inspired to start a PAAC program at ‘Iolani. Members can participate in different events sponsored by PAAC, an international organization backed by the United Nations. In doing so, they get to work with other schools and can earn a Global Issues Certificate. Star says, “You would have essentially built a resume for yourself in civic engagement.” Members can participate in events such as the Parkinson Walk, which was held on Nov. 1, or a service trip to Vietnam.
Many people use service hours as a way to boost their resume, and Bake-A-Wish is a fun way to help encourage community service among ‘Iolani students. Started in 2020, Bake-A-Wish members can make baked goods to donate to different nonprofits while having fun with friends. Eva K. ’27, a publicity coordinator for the club, said, “We’ve done dog treats for the humane society and brownies for teacher appreciation.” While originally joining the club for her resume, Eva says that she has realized that it’s a great way to spend her time and allows her to help out the community.
Finding a specific club to join that suits your interests is difficult, but many students feel that it is easier to join a single club that offers more opportunities for them rather than joining multiple different clubs. Ms. Sakuda agrees, advising students to join organizations such as Key Club or Leo Club to help give a broader perspective of what interests students, as these clubs often have a wide range of activities for members to try. As a former ‘Iolani student, Ms. Sakuda was in Key Club and did projects across different sectors, such as healthcare and human services, before starting a specific group of her own. When advising other students on how to pick clubs, Star said,“[Try] to explore the different opportunities in the Daily Bulletin…if [you] have any specific goal in mind or issue that [you] want to target that comes up, definitely first email Ms. Sakuda…she’ll recommend options that they could do.” Eva, a junior who plans to continue working with Bake-A-Wish next year, said, “It makes me feel more ingrained in the ‘Iolani community because I’m embodying the one team spirit through working to better other people’s lives.”
