The Marlborough Student Charitable Fund will hold its next fundraising fashion show, “An International Affair,” March 21. MSCF hopes to raise at least $30,000 through the event to support Los Angeles organizations that help educate unprivileged girls.
Student representatives are currently completing site visits to pick which groups will receive grants next year. This year’s event will include not just fashion but cultural dances, music, food representing Africa, Europe, South America and Asia. The event will be held at Marlborough, instead of the Ebell where it has been held the past two years.
Last year they raised $30,000 and this year they hope to do at least that well this year. Last year MSCF gave two grants of $10,000 and two grants of $5,000 to Motivating Our Students Through Experience, which educates underprivileged girls in L.A., HerShe, which helps young women in foster care make the transition to independence, Aviva, which provides therapy and educational programs for at risk, abused, or neglected youth and their families, and REACH L.A., which encourages and teaches young people how to improve their own lives and the communities they live in.
After MSCF receives grant applications, then the club brainstorms a list of questions for each potential applicant based on its proposal for how it would use the grant. Students next meet with a representative from the organization, and finally they visit the location where the charity is run.
“We see how the organization is run, what the mission is that they are hoping to accomplish, and the way in which they plan on achieving that goal. All of this helps us in determining if we want to donate to them or not,” Arielle ’10 said.
Site visits are very informative as well as revealing. Occasionally the charity will not be accurately represented on paper and therefore the reality sometimes strays away from the perception MSCF has. Also, site visits determine whether that charity is organized enough to actually do good with the money Marlborough gives them.
“We want to make sure the money we give is being spent in the most efficient way and that our donations will have the biggest impact possible. Going on site visits identifies which charities are more likely to accomplish our goal of helping disadvantaged girls in the L.A. area.” said MSCF Vice President Julianne ’10.
This year, the club is considering three organizations they donated to last year, as well as two new charities. One uses family interventions and workshops to helps families who’ve experienced domestic violence, and the other assists girls who have been in juvenile justice systems to build successful lives. The decisions are difficult.
“I determine where I think our donations should go to when I see the people the organization is helping and witness what our money can do to help. Going through this process you realize how fortunate we are. What I look for in a charity, is which organization will offer the best opportunity possible to help others that aren’t as privileged as I am.” MSCF member Sarah ‘11 said.
