At Hills, there are a variety of extracurricular activities that include art clubs, music clubs, business clubs, language clubs, and especially service clubs. Among the Leo Club, National Honors Society, and Student Ambassadors, there is the Red Cross Youth Council Club.

This year, it has been difficult for the officers to plan meetings because almost all of the events held by the club last year were in person/hands on.  However, the club was able to successfully have a blood donation drive and also set goals for this school year.

One event that is held every year and will continue this year is the Holiday Mail for Heroes, where members of the club write holiday cards for veterans. Students are also collaborating on creating Preparedness Kits. Items such as Band-Aids, notepads, and water are distributed in bags to families in need in Paterson, which is a disaster relief location. Red Cross also plans to hold a Scrubby Bear Field Trip, more blood drives, a food and toiletries drive, and Charity Miles.

Every month the club meets with over 30 people in attendance on the Google Meet. The officers also meet on separate days to plan future meetings and discuss logistics.

Hills junior Millie Loka, the president of Red Cross, explains that “it is difficult to plan events around the new restrictions since the Red Cross mainly focuses on hands on volunteering. I feel like the people who joined are very understanding of this and still make every effort to help out when we need it!”

Despite the difficulties with running a club during a pandemic, Red Cross still manages to contribute to the community in many ways!