Students bake for charity
A Kiwanis-affiliated club at Garibaldi is holding a fundraiser on Friday
Key Club members (top left to right) Assam Ahmed, Sara Stanley, Daniel Ray, (bottom, left to right) Benita Etey, Maryam Askarpoor, Sarah May, Nicholas Nichols, and David Chen are planning a bake sale for Friday.
Photograph by: Maria Rantanen , TIMES
Garibaldi Secondary students have been busy baking to raise money for charity, and they are doing it under the auspices of the Key Club, affiliated with Kiwanis International.
As their first big event, the Key Club members will hold a bake sale on Friday (Dec. 28) at Haney Place Mall, and they are calling it Bake Sale for Breast Cancer.
Club member Maryam Askarpoor wanted fighting breast cancer to be the focus of their fundraiser as she lost her aunt to the disease - as well as a taekwondo instructor.
She said it was "heart breaking" to watch her aunt suffering in pain as she battled cancer.
"Not only was she suffering the battle against cancer, but I had noticed that family all around me were experiencing the same agony as her just by watching another piece of her fade away every single day," Askarpoor said.
Unfortunately, a cure for cancer was not found in time to save her aunt, she added, so she is taking part in the bake sale for her aunt and taekwondo instructor.
"We've heard about the tragedy of cancer, but it doesn't become a reality until you are personally affected and unfortunately everyday more and more people are," Askarpoor said. "My dream is that one day I will be able to say that I contributed to finding a cure for cancer."
She participates regularly in the CIBC Run for the Cure, and with her family has joined the group Kimberly's Krusaders Run for the Cure - in memory of her taekwondo instructor Kimberly Grozier.
The Key Club at the east Maple Ridge school is the first one in School District 42, and the president and instigator of the group Nicholas Nichols is hoping other schools will start similar clubs.
The club was started about three months ago and it has about 30 members.
The club works with advisors, Kiwanis members in the community, for example, from Golden Ears Kiwanis, explained Nichols, and the focus is on leadership building in youth and raising money for the community.
The Kiwanis advisors have taught them about leadership and how to raise money for different causes.
"Key Club is to help youth and kids our age become better leaders," Nichols said.
The "key" in the name stands for Kiwanis Educating Youth.
The bake sale will take place this Friday (Dec. 28) at Haney Place Mall from 9 a.m. until all the goodies are sold out.
In addition to baking themselves, some club members have gone to various bakeries to ask for donations.
There will be brownies, cupcakes, cookies, cakes, tarts, and much more.
