Future Healthcare Professionals and Students for Climate Action Club Collab for Local Park Clean-Up

By: Sydney Brammer

On Saturday, May 1st, 2021 from 9:00-10:30 AM, two of Redwood’s clubs, Future Healthcare Professionals (FHP) and Students for Climate Action (S4CA) made a collective decision to work together for the day to pick up trash at St. John’s River Park located on Ben Maddox.

The clubs took Covid precautions by wearing masks and staying at least six feet apart while walking the trail. There was also an online sign-up sheet that students were supposed to fill out prior to the event, so the clubs could anticipate how many volunteers were coming. There ended up being about 17 volunteers who showed.

Future Healthcare Professionals club President, Eric Chavez, ’22 and Students for Climate Action President, Jacqueline Canchola-Martinez, ’21 provided snacks, water, and trash bags for everyone who attended. The clubs met at the entrance and began to walk down the path and picked up any trash along the way.

For the collaboration, it was Chavez’s idea to reach out to the Students for Climate Action President to see if they would be open to work together for some community service. After collabing with this club, Chavez says, “[this is] something that we should look forward to every year, maybe once a semester- if not, more than that.”

After this experience, Chavez is now open to working with other clubs for events like this such as “Red Cross, CSF, Key club, and any other clubs that want to reach out and collab…” Chavez also mentions how he would like to get not just two clubs together, but multiple to make as much of a difference in the community as he can.

Because not only his club, but the whole school as well as other clubs have been on Zoom for most of the year, “it’s just something for us to actually do outside the school, and still stay safe outdoors, and I think it was a good event for us to do,” states Chavez.

Students for Climate Action President, Jacqueline Canchola-Martinez, ’21 has done a local park clean-up event like this before with her club at Merris Park near Redwood High School, making this event with FHP their second event. Like FHP, this being a new club starting at the beginning of last year, Martinez noticed an abundance of students from Redwood, along with herself whom “saw a need to advocate more for climate, and that was something that… [she] became more passionate about during the pandemic…,” she says.

This is also her first time working with another club for an event. She says, “It was really exciting to be able to collab with a different club that people might not expect us to collaborate with… but I think it just shows us that no matter what profession you want to go into, that you can definitely care about the environment and climate.”

Overall, Martinez is very “excited” about all the volunteers that showed up to help clean, as well as looking forward to future events like this.

Mira Daya, ’23 is a member of FHP, and she was glad to finally be able to do a “hands-on activity.” She enjoyed collaborating with another club because “we’re all helping the environment, so it’s a good change from [being] on Zoom,” she states.

Daya adds, “I’m excited for the opportunities FHP and Students for Climate Action has for us because I want to help out as much as I can.”

This is S4CA member, Nana Chong’s, ’22 first community service event she has attended for her club. For her first event, especially it being working with another club, Chong says, “I think it was really cool… It’s nice to see there’s two clubs that can join together to do something good for the community even if it’s two different clubs, there’s still similarities that [they can use] to make the world a better place, and it’s cool that everybody came out here…”

Chongs adds, “It feels good to be picking around trash, and there was actually a lot… and there were people that were walking on the trails and biking, and they were just saying ‘thank you’ and it felt nice.”

FHP advisor and Redwood Health teacher, Michaela Sanchez thought the two clubs joining was “fun… a good way to kind of spread the same message, and more of cross-group interaction.” She adds, “I think both groups have the same goal- cleaning up the park, having a safer environment for all of Visalia to enjoy, and I think it would be very beneficial for more clubs to combine on a similar goal…”

Like Chong stated, Sanchez also enjoyed people on the trail saying things such as “thanks, guys”. Sanchez continues, “…and asking where we’re from, and it really shows a lot of pride in the community. And they’re thankful, so don’t think that any small act of kindness is too small.”

Not only were members from FHP and S4CA invited, but anyone who saw the message of the event were welcome! Emely Luna, ’22 was just one of these students who made the decision to come and help out after seeing an Instagram post, even without being a member of one of the clubs.

Luna says, “when I do check Instagram, it’s nice to see what people are up to, so I just decided to sign up.” Regarding the collaboration of the clubs, Luna states, “It was nice to see a lot of people show up from two different clubs and… we took a long walk, and we found a lot of trash surprisingly, and it was nice to see a lot of people work together.”

Luna adds, “I don’t do a lot of community service, but I think today, [and] in general, is just a good opportunity to just get out there and do something…”

If interested in future community service opportunities or these clubs, check out their Instagrams: @redwood.fhp and @students4climate_visalia.

Tags: clubs & lifestyles, community service, Future Healthcare Professionals, redwood clubs, redwood gigantea, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, St. John's River Park, Students for Climate Action, sydneybrammer, volunteers