Staff Writer
Nourish,
an Apex High School club started by junior Dhvani Bhatia, plans to host a
scavenger hunt at Bond Park to raise money for Nourish International. “Currently,
there is nothing like Nourish at Apex. I thought that it was important for me
to raise awareness about the organization and to be able to create an impact in
my community and school,” says Bhatia. Nourish International is a student
driven organization that started in 2003, while it includes mostly college students,
it has recently begun to allow high school students to work with them on their
mission to fight poverty. The goal of Nourish is to raise funds and awareness
in an effort to provide opportunities for the less fortunate. “So how it works
is that college students create small businesses on their campuses to raise
money for a particular community (e.g. water sanitation in Peru) and after
raising the money on their campus, they take that money and actually go to the
country to fix the problem during the summer,” explains Bhatia, president of
Nourish.
At
club meetings, the students brainstorm ways they can reach out to the community.
As a school club, they are unable to fundraise; but, as a part of Nourish
International, they can. “As a school club, we raise awareness for Nourish International,
but off campus, we raise money through many ventures,” says Bhatia. Just last
week, Nourish hosted a very successful venture at Sweet Tomatoes where 15% of
profits were donated to the club. Bhatia says she and the members are planning
some smaller fundraisers, such as bake sales, to continue to raise money to
support sustainability in South America while they plan their large event that
is to take place in April, the week after Spring Break. “I plan to continue to
work my best to make sure that Apex is involved in one way or another with
Nourish. Even though we can’t fundraise at school, I will make sure that I
leave a legacy for Nourish before I graduate,” says Bhatia.
The
club has scheduled their big event for April 4 at 11 a.m. (Time subject to
change). “It will be a scavenger hunt in Bond Park with chances to win money,
eat food and have a lot of fun,” says Bhatia. The scavenger hunt will take
place at the Kiwanis Shelter in Bond Park, ages 12 to 20 can participate.
“People buy tickets for $10 and participate in an extremely difficult scavenger
hunt all around the park,” says Bhatia. The winner will receive $200 worth of
gift cards from establishments such as Chick-Fil-A, Coldstone, Fresh Market and
Harris Teeter.
Apex
High is one of the first high schools to join Nourish International and Bhatia
says she enjoys being a member. “I love all the things I am learning from
Nourish. I am learning leadership skills and networking skills. The best thing
though is that I know that I am helping someone in need and that everything
that I am working hard for is worthwhile because I am helping to improve
someone’s life.”
To
purchase your ticket or if you’re interested and have any questions, send an e-mail
to apex@nourish.org. For more information on Nourish International visit
nourish.org.
