Words: Vaishnavi Mahalingam

Centennial’s new club, Girl Up, aims to make an impact on the lives of girls in developing countries through fundraisers for equal rights in safety, health, and education. Despite its name, Girl Up is open to members of all genders. Joining Girl Up provides opportunities for leadership and allows members to make an impact through service.

Every Tuesday in room 905, the group meets to hold discussions on fundraisers for Girl Up’s projects, the most prominent being the European refugee and immigrant crisis. Girl Up plans to educate its members about the crisis and raise money to provide education to refugees.

President Julie Wang, a sophomore, created the club in Centennial High School this year. In her freshman year, she was in Centennial’s Model United Nations, which taught members about current international issues.

“[However], you don’t actually get to do anything concrete about these issues,” Wang stated.

After some online research, she discovered Girl Up, a global organization that is a branch of the United Nations. She noticed that the organization was holding a leadership summit in Washington, D.C., and attended it on July 14, 2015.

Speakers such as Michelle Obama and presidents of the United Nations Foundation encouraged young girls from around the world to hold fundraisers and start branches of the organization in their hometowns.

“I got to meet a lot of people and listen to many inspiring speakers,” Wang commented, “so that’s really what inspired me to start this club.”

Sophomore Alexandra Pavao, a member of Girl Up, is most looking forward to the activities and fundraisers the club engages in later on in the year, such as raising awareness for International Day of the Girl. “It’s nice to actually be able to support girls all over the world,” Pavo remarked.

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