Covid-19 Affects Redwood Club Budgets

By Ryan Kaspar

The pandemic has affected all aspects of life on Redwood, so it’s no surprise that clubs and other organizations, some student run others not, have been impacted financially. Due to VUSD’s restrictions on fundraising, many of the organizations have had to adapt to their current environment in order to continue running.

Most notably, Redwood’s ASB, Associated Student Body, has been especially impacted. In a normal year, the ASB earns money through donations or through fundraising, like with the ASB stickers or school dances. “ASB funds are student funds,” said Yvonne Bruder, the School Finance Assistant, “It’s all fundraised money.” Last year, Redwood’s ASB fundraised $20,430 through sticker sales alone and around $76,000 total. They use this money to pay for rallies, dances, and to send officers to conferences (CATA). This year, however, they haven’t been able to do any of that.

Hailey Aston, Activities Director, says “We are going to have to find ways to stretch our money. Without fundraising and events that bring in money (ie. dances) we don’t have money coming in.”

However, it has been cheaper to run the club this year compared to typical years because, while they haven’t been earning any money, they also haven’t had to spend it either. “It is cheaper to run ASB right now than a typical year.  In a typical year the fall semester is packed full of activities that cost a lot of money to produce” said Aston.

FBLA, the Future Business Leaders of America, who typically earn their money through grants given to them by California FBLA and through large scale fundraising, has been impacted by this as well. Typically, they use this money to go on business trips for conferences. “Pretty much all of our money goes back to our students,” said Jacob Avila, Business Department Chair, “We are business leaders, but we’re not trying to make a ton of money unless it goes back to our members.”

The benefit to distance learning has been that conferences and business trips haven’t cost as much, going from around $150 every trip per kid to just $10, since there is no need for travel, hotels, and all of that, due to all of the meetings being virtual.

“We could potentially have more kids participate because it’s cheaper, but just trying to figure out all of the costs and logistics and that side of it is way easier than doing a full conference in person” says Avila.

Redwood’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) is using their low earning and low spending to their advantage, deciding to shift the focus of their club. 

“We are using this time of online and low spending to benefit the future of the GSA, and change our club into more of an activist club rather than just a social one,” said Kyla Seitz, the GSA’s treasurer. 

Typically, the GSA earns money through selling things around campus like selling shirts, however, they usually have one big fundraiser a year. They would spend this money on supplies for meetings and art supplies for protests and/or art nights. Instead, this year they are focusing on making an inclusive environment for all Redwood students.

“Right now we are just trying to create a safe space online for people who identify as LGBT+ or allies for these times where they are stuck at home with their families that may or may not let them be themselves. That itself doesn’t require money…We want to be able to use the money we fundraise to help spread our message of inclusivity and expand our outreach even further” says Seitz.