Tam’s YouthGive Club Steps Up for Tsunami Victims

The members of the Tam High YouthGive Club were set to hold a regular meeting on Saturday in preparation for their annual YouthFest event in May.

The tragic changed all that.

Spurred by the devastation, the members sprung to action to hold an impromptu fundraising event in downtown Mill Valley Saturday, raising more than $600 from more than 100 donors in just two hours.

“It came together so fast,” said Tam senior Emily Deng. “Once the earthquake hit, we realized we had to do something. We put together some simple posters and fundraising cans and went downtown.”

The students set up outside , outside and at . They were overwhelmed with the positive response, Deng said.

“It was so recent that people hadn’t gotten a chance to go online and make donations themselves,” Deng said. “We were on the street and caught people on their way to get coffee or on their way to grocery store.”

The group is being donated the money to Mercy Corps, a Portland, Ore.-based relief organization that has direct ties to Peace Winds, which has been on the ground for several days in Sendai, Japan, near the quake epicenter, distributing large shelters, emergency tents, water, food and blankets to survivors.

“They know what the Japanese need right now as opposed to a foreign relief organization,” Deng said.

The fundraiser was the latest fundraising effort for the YouthGive Club, the high school offshoot of the organization that Dan Siegel and Jenny Yancey founded five years ago to spur a new framework for philanthropy, particularly among youth.

The YouthGive Club is hosting third annual YouthFest event on May 21. It is a scavenger hunt of sorts in downtown Mill Valley in which participants gather clues and learn more about the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals that were outlined in 2000.

At the conclusion of the event, participants will decide where to disperse the funds raised by the club throughout the year via bake sales and donations from local businesses.

As for the Japan relief effort, the YouthGive Club isn’t done. They hope to raise $2,500 and are now up to $850. Click here to donate.