Club Spotlight: FCCLA donates time, food and money to charity

A booth stood in the Taggart Student Center, colored red with decorations and wares. Roses, carnations and cookies were ready to be sold over Valentine’s
Day weekend, and all for those in need.

The week of Feb. 10 was Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) week. Members of the club held a cookie and flower sale and a food drive to prepare for service projects and give to organizations on and off campus.

The cookie and flower sale, which was held by Utah State University’s chapter of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America club last week, raised money to buy supplies for a service project in April, where club members will put together activity folders to send to women’s shelters and local schools, said Carlee Larson, a freshman in family and consumer science.

She said the folders give children something fun to do while they’re waiting for a bus or for a parent to get off work.

“That’s something for them to do where they’re not being disruptive, but they’re also learning at the same time,” Larson said. “It’s a fun service project that’s easy to put together and also helps the community.”

FCCLA also held a food drive, and all food and money donated went to the Student Nutrition Access Center, or SNAC.

“We’ve told [customers] that we’re donating to SNAC, and a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, that’s a really good cause’,” said Whitney Beames, a junior in family and consumer science. “We’ve had people just donate money to us and they won’t buy anything. They’ll say, ‘Here, just take the money and give it to them.’ So that’s actually been really cool. It’s really neat to see people give.”

The food drive let students give back to the community and help other students, Beames said. Giving back to on-campus organizations like SNAC allows students to see the effects of their donations.

Founded in 1945, FCCLA is a national student organization that promotes leadership through family and consumer sciences as well as focuses on the family as it relates to careers and the community, said Julie Wheeler, the FCCLA club adviser.

“We’re really the only club of our kind that does that,” Wheeler said. “Most clubs are focusing on their academic area, but we’re trying to focus on bringing families together and making a stronger nation.”

Wheeler said there are over 500 FCCLA chapters in the United States and over 200,000 members. Clubs can be found in both high schools and colleges.

Students interested in getting involved can volunteer for the club’s service project on April 4th and 6th. A closing social will be held on April 27th.

For more information about FCCLA, students can contact Wheeler, the club adviser, at julie.wheeler@aggiemail.usu.edu or go to the club Facebook and Instagram pages.

“We promote entrepreneurship, we promote leadership throughout the community, we promote interior design, consumerism, financial literacy, just good life skills that everybody should have,” said Sydney Longhurst, a sophomore in family and consumer science. “So if you’re interested in any of that, we’re more than happy to welcome you in.”

—miranda.lorenc@gmail.com

@miranda_lorenc