The Bridgewater-Raritan High School (BRHS) Red Cross Club kicked off the new school year with its first meeting on September 24, welcoming many potential club members.

The meeting took place after school in the library, where students gathered to discuss upcoming initiatives and the purpose of the Red Cross club.

The BRHS club is a chapter of the American Red Cross, a nonprofit organization providing emergency assistance, disaster relief and disaster preparedness education programs in the United States. The non-profit offers volunteer hours and career experience for high school students.

Members who attended were given an overview of the various service projects planned for the semester, including blood drives and community outreach programs. Club leaders also discussed the volunteer opportunities within the club, Red Cross certifications and club officer committees. Pizza was also offered to meeting attendees.

The club is led by a student officer board, assisted by club advisor Mr. Gregory Filipski. The officer board is made up of senior Shreya Thoppay as president, junior Andrew Gerrard as vice president, junior Lahari Thota as secretary, junior Vivian Nguyen as treasurer, sophomore Mahathi Karthik as outreach coordinator, senior Sanjana Shekhar and Aditi Iyer as safety chairpersons, sophomore Ria Devgan as blood drive chairperson and sophomore Meher Dua as fundraising chairperson.

Devgan commented on the outcome of the meeting. “Our first meeting of the club was a big success, with about 40 people coming. I believe the club is a great way to gain volunteer hours as well as experience in various career fields,” they said.

The next meeting will be sometime in October. All people interested in joining are encouraged to join the club’s Google Classroom, using the code nuoi6yy, and follow the club’s Instagram page, @brredcross.