By Harsh Godhani
Staff Writer
MCC club, Democracy House holds meetings bimonthly, with the next meeting in Raritan Hall, Room 005A on Feb. 26 at 11 a.m.
Those who enjoy volunteering or have a passion for community involvement, social justice and political issues should join the club, where students can volunteer for community service in their own county.
Democracy House’s goal is to reach and help the needy in our own community.
Democracy House attempts to tackle issues that many students don’t ever experience, often including poverty, starvation, and homelessness.
One of the club’s biggest on-campus events, One Billion Rising, was held on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
The event aimed to raise awareness of sexual assault. Democracy House president, Luke Agojo, said, “Our advisors are very keen on sexual assault awareness so we held an event to address that.”
Agojo said, “We also are trying to incorporate the body of students on campus, because generally, when we do events off-campus, the turnout isn’t that great.”
“There is something on campus where we feel like we can make a greater impact by doing it here, and allowing students to see the type of change we are trying to make.” said Agojo.
Other scheduled Democracy House functions include a day of service event and a beach sweep cleanup.
When asked about the day of service event, Agojo said, “…we are going to make small care packages for Elijah’s Promise, which would include napkins, sanitizers, spoon and forks, feminine products and cleaning products.”
According to the Elijah’s Promise website, “[The organization] was started in August of 1989 and since its inception, the soup kitchen has grown from an organization of three paid staff and 100 volunteers serving 35,000 meals a year to a multi-service organization of 26 paid staff and over 3,000 volunteers serving over 170,000 meals annually between all of our meal service programs.”
Agojo said, “As a Volunteer in Action group, the club will attempt to collaborate with other clubs to work with Clean Ocean Action to work on its biannual beach sweep which will be Saturday, April 21, at 8 a.m.”
“The Clean Ocean Action Volunteers gather from Raritan to Delaware Bays and along the ocean beaches and waterways, as well as underwater sites. They join as groups (community, school, business, and organization), families or individuals.” said Agojo, “Selected participants collect and record valuable data about debris, which is presented in annual reports and used to advance federal, state and local programs to reduce litter.”
“The club is not just a service club but also an environment to socialize and meet students from various majors and backgrounds,” Agojo said, “The club’s agenda is to tackle many issues that most students don’t ever experience. But we’re not just a community service club, we like to give students an experience that they can remember and reflect on. One which motivates them to continue working with their community after they leave MCC.”
For more information, contact Luke Agojo at [email protected]
