Impact Club helps local community
Nicole O’Brien (left), Nicolette Rogers (center) and Chandler Hennelly (right) pack food at the third annual food packing event. Photo submitted.
By Veronica Fulton// Organizations Editor
The Impact Club’s mission is to help the less fortunate through hosting events that benefit the local High Point community and beyond.
“I joined Impact Club in the fall of my freshman year because I am passionate about the group’s mission,” said Alex Hostetler, High Point University junior.
Hostetler was formerly the vice president of the Impact Club and is currently the president.
“As a freshman, I saw tremendous room for opportunity within our club and cherished the ‘give back’ attitude of its members,” Hostetler said. “Being a freshman and serving as vice president of the club allowed me to contribute more time and energy to furthering the organization’s purpose.”
Unlike other clubs on campus, the Impact Club does not meet regularly unless you are involved in the leadership of the club. The executive team dedicates which events are on and off campus, and they reach out to the members to be the first to participate as volunteers.
On April 8 in the Wilson Ballroom, the Impact Club is holding their fourth annual packing event, where they are preparing weekend meals to benefit 6,000 local children.
“There is an assembly line type process, and we pack gallon bags full of food,” said club member Kathleen Kitts. “We send the completed gallons out and they are distributed to schools in High Point who are on the free or reduced meal plan at school. Basically, there are students on the meal plan who don’t have enough money to eat, so we give them these bags that have normally enough food for two meals. This way, they receive the meal bags on a Friday and can eat over the weekend until they get back to school on Monday.”
The Impact Club also hosts a discount Christmas store which recently gave over 1,000 gifts to children of the local High Point community who would otherwise not have celebrated the holiday. Throughout the year, they host various small-scale fundraising and give-back events, but their primary focus is on the two large annual events – the discount Christmas store and the food packing event.
“We have seen tremendous results from our events, and I am proud of the current leadership team for helping further the club’s success,” Hostetler said.