Club founders, sophomores Sofie Vinick and Sydney Kuaff, promote the importance of children having an education with their creation of the Pencil of Promise club, which has been paused because of the pandemic.

The club allows members to develop fundraisers and visit the organization’s headquarters in New York. Over the summer, club founders Kuaff and Vinick read the book Pencils Of Promise and found out the author was also the founder of the organization, Pencils of Promise. “Reading the book allowed Sofie and I to learn a lot and it was very beneficial,” Kuaff said.

Kuaff and Vinick felt motivated to do more research and collectively came up with the idea to make this into a club. They researched online where they found a section on the organization’s website on how to start the club, then looked on Instagram to see more ideas. Kuaff said, “I contacted the headquarters and the president on how to start the Pencils of Promise club.”

The club’s goal is to raise money for kids to have access to an education and for the club members to expand their knowledge. The main goal is to visit the headquarters in New York and offer opportunities to go on trips and bring speakers. “We couldn’t plan trips, which is the main purpose of this club, this year because of Covid,” Kuaff said.

The club was created to spread information across the world starting with a community. Kuaff and Vinick want to raise money using fundraisers that would go toward education for kids in impoverished areas. “We were planning on going on a trip to New York and going to the organization’s headquarters and meeting the people in charge,” Vinick said.

Currently, the club is paused due to the pandemic. The club was also planned to be in person, which can no longer happen. Vinick said, “I wanted more of an engagement with the members and a strong start.”

Club member Vivian Pisani joined the club because she was interested about the trip to New York. Pisani first heard about this club on May 12 when, her friends, Vinick and Kuaff sent her information. “It was very admirable and cool to be up front and in person and helping. I admired that they are helping the community and giving back. I hope to contribute to raising money for the cause with fundraisers and helping the organization build schools in new locations,” Pisani said.

The club supports an organization that can help kids in developing countries in the future and in upcoming generations. Pisani said, “Education is very important and everyone should have it.”