THE KIWI
BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB
FEB '22 VOL 10.12
"Congratulations on your graduation!" -- Koro Sensei
EDITOR'S NOTE Helloo! It's been a while. I'm not gonna lie, for many reasons this month has been tough. I wish I could have gone out with a bang with this last newsletter, but stress and burnout have really done a number (PSA: get some sleep, eat some good food, and drink lots of water. You and your body will thank you :) ). But that being said, this is indeed my last newsletter. It's been an honor serving as Bronx Science's Webmaster and Bulletin Editor, and I know that the club is in good hands (hello Jeongwon!). While I'm sad to go, I'm so excited to see what the next newsletters, website, and club will be like. You'll hear more from me during my farewell speech : '( ~Laura Pong '22
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Meet the Board
1
Meet the Co-Heads
2
Service Progress
4
Looking Back
6
Looking Forwards
16
Announcements and Links
18
Find Us
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PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
SECRETARY
Loretta Eng '22
William Wu '22
Shiya Lin '23
engl@bxscience.edu
wuw@bxscience.edu
lins10@bxscience.edu
MEET THE 21'-22' BOARD
TREASURER
Stephen Ogunbiyi '22 ogunbiyis@bxscience.edu
WEBMASTER AND BULLETIN EDITOR
Laura Pong '22 pongl@bxscience.edu
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MEET THE C CO-HE Awards SULTANA@BXSCIENCE.EDU
ADAM SULTAN '23
LIMM2@BXSCIENCE.EDU
MANDY LIM '23
Fundraising LUUL@BXSCIENCE.EDU
LINH LUU '23
YUH2@BXSCIENCE.EDU
HENRY YU '23
Projects JUNGC2@BXSCIENCE.EDU
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CHRISSY JUNG '24
OMMITTEE EADS Public Relations JIANGM2@BXSCIENCE.EDU
MELODY JIANG '24
XIER@BXSCIENCE.EDU
REBECCA XIE '23
Scrapbook LEEJ16@BXSCIENCE.EDU
JEONGWON LEE '23
HEESCHF@BXSCIENCE.EDU
FINLEY HEESCH '23
Social Media CHENA19@BXSCIENCE.EDU
ANNY CHEN '23
YIPC@BXSCIENCE.EDU
CHLOE YIP '23
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SERVICE UPDATE
12,694 // 115.4%
4
FUNDRAISING UPDATE
$6283 // 104.7%
5
LOOKING BA 2/5, 2/22, 2/24: 9 Million Reasons/Evangel Food Pantry Members worked with 9 Million Reasons in LIC to feed fellow New Yorkers!
2/6: Compost Bagging Volunteer Day Members helped with compost events at the Queens Botanical Garden!
2/12: Emergency Food Program Members prepared and distributed food packages with the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue!
2/13: NYRR Gridiron 4M Members helped run the NYRR Gridiron 4M!
2/19: SFCC (Support the Sustainable Fashion Community Center) Members helped sort, organize, and hang clothing at the Sustainable Fashion Community Center!
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ACKWARDS 2/20: Lunar New Year Parade & Festival Members set up and participated in Better Chinatown's Lunar New Year Parade & Festival!
2/25: Key Club Ice Skating Fundraiser Members joined BTHS and Stuy Key Clubs for a fundraiser in support of the Equal Justice Initiative!
2/26: Mott Haven Fridge Members helped pack and sort fresh produce for the Mott Haven Fridge Network!
2/27: Samaritan's Closet Members helped at a Samaritan's Closet Event!
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9 Million Reas Food P The 9 million reasons pantry events were very fun! There were a variety of different tasks for us to do. For example, we were assigned to box breaking, loading boxes, unpacking bread, loading bread, moving fruits, and many other things. It was a very big food pantry with a big variety of produce, and there’s never nothing to do. It was very nice doing these tasks with friends and enjoying time together. Also, something memorable about this event was the food. In the 2 times that I went there, amazing food was served to the volunteers, which made the experience a lot more enjoyable. This event was pretty fun overall and a good bonding experience. -- Kevin Fu '25
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sons/ Evangel antry
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Compost Bagging
10
Emergency Food Program 11
NYRR Gridiron 4M On February 13, 2022, the event NYRR Gridiron 4M, was my first ever volunteering event associated with The Bronx Science Key Club. I can confirm that I had been so lucky to wake up that day and be persistent to get there as fast as I could. It was all totally worth it in the end. Waking up at 6 A.M to commute from the Bronx to Manhattan wasn’t so easy in such cold and snowy weather. When I got there, the area was filled with runners who were participating in the race. I was pleased to see our community getting involved in such an intriguing environment. The countdown till the race started was somewhere around the center with a radio booming voice that set the early morning in a determined mood. I was finally able to find some of the other volunteers in this event from the same school as me. They made this experience so much better in every possible way and made it become a comfortable environment for me immediately. Meeting new key clubbers was probably one of my favorite parts at this event since I felt very included and welcomed; as if we were all family. Starting off the volunteering event, we started by making sure the residents ran on the right path and tried to fix any confusion that may occur. Once the countdown was getting closer to 0, we went to the food port where numerous boxes were stacked with apples and bagels. A vehicle went down the lane where the runners would start running in advance to signal that the race had begun. Hundreds of people had begun running and I was fully invested in watching all this happen. After watching the strong runners run with great energy, we opened the boxes with apples and each had our own to distribute to our runners if they
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were to come by. Finally, someone came over to me for an apple; it was my first approach and I was more than honored and delighted. As they continued to come by me, giving them an apple made me feel like such a great person; I was so proud that I was able to contribute and help these people. The best part was their smile; It had definitely left me to remember those moments as I am right now and I definitely hope it had an impact on their day. The apple was stacked with layers and each of the layers was decreasing as the number of people coming for an apple was increasing; meaning the number of smiles on my face and the runner's faces were too. Even when my fingers began freezing and my hands were almost numb, it was all worth it to see their smiles; the smiles of the people in our community just bought my heart closer to humanity. After a couple of long hours of dedication and commitment, the event was coming to an end (the saddest part, unfortunately). It was time for us to all go home but we had a bunch of leftover bagels and apples. The people there let us take as much as we could. This was definitely the highlight of my experience at this event. My large bag was filled with bagels and apples. Although it was a pain to carry it from Manhattan back to The Bronx, the food was totally worth it and the apple was absolutely delicious. We each made sure to say all our goodbyes before my new key club peers had to depart. This was such a fun experience in not only providing for my community but also in gaining the opportunity to bond with them as well. -- Nafisa Promi '25
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On 2/19, I volunteered at the Sustainable Fashion Community Center. At this event, I helped sort donated clothing and hang them up. We, volunteers, played trivia and learned some facts pertaining to fashion and clothing. For example, we learned that 7,000 liters of water are used to create one pair of jeans. At the Sustainable Fashion Community Center, there was a sales shop with items from different places. Alpaca bears were one of the items. The fur was made from alpaca fur and was superrr soft. The person in charge of the Sustainable Fashion Community Center is a plant lover. She has a small area for growing different plants. A few of the volunteers helped her plant seeds, as spring is right around the corner. This event was a relaxing time to bond with my friends and I really enjoyed it. --Ena Lu '24
SFCC (Support the Sustainable Fashion Community Center) 15
Lunar New Year Parade & Festival 16
Chinatown Manhattan, although home to a diverse population, is nev way to bring attention to the Asian hate crimes and to celebrate Luna was freezing, I’d like to say we all genuinely had a great time hangin through a friend and we all volunteered together. At some point thro freezing, we had to warm up) and got some drinks. It was really nice to time with. As soon as we were finished, we returned to the far back o miniature lion dance costumes! We also helped as a group to preve hilarious moment that occurred to me and my friends was when we w instructions never came back to us. So pretty much we were left cluele to this moment, I’d think about the laughs we had while we were shive glittering confetti that rained from the sky. Altogether, this even volunteering even
Lunar New Year Parade & Festival
vertheless predominantly Asian. This event was held in Chinatown as a ar New Year! Many volunteers showed up to this event, and although it ng out with friends. I personally got to meet up with some new people ughout our volunteering event, we went to a cafe nearby (since it was sit down, drink, and just chat along with the people I enjoyed spending of the parade and we got a chance to see some cute dogs dressed in ent people from entering the parade if they weren’t supposed to. A were assigned a job, but we got ditched there and the man who gave us ess and decided to help out other Key Club members. If I ever look back ring, along with revving engines from the expensive cars and colorful, nt was definitely worth the cold and I would definitely go to more nts. -- Stacy Qu '25
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BXSCI X BTH Skating Fu The BXSCI X BTHS X STUY Ice Skating Fundraiser was definitely one of my favorite events this past service year. After an entire month of planning, we had rented out the World Ice Arena and had over 175 participants!! The last time I ice skated was during our previous ice skating fundraiser in my Freshman year, so this was not only a very nostalgic experience for me but also an exciting one. I felt like I was learning to skate again for the first time, and it was genuinely one of the most memorable and fun experiences I’ve had so far this year!
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HS X STUY Ice undraiser I think that this fundraiser made me realize that despite all of the challenges we’ve had, it is definitely possible for clubs to begin looking like how they used to. There were so many people on the rink at all times– and just the experience of standing out in the cold to sign people in, going around to promote pins that each of our clubs made, and hopping around to skate with multiple friends was something that I never thought I would’ve been able to experience during this pandemic. By the end of the fundraiser, we had raised $778 for the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization dedicated to tackling mass incarceration, challenging racial and economic injustice, and ending unfair punishments within the US. I’m so glad I came to this event, and I can’t wait for more like this in the future!! -- Shiya Lin '23
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LOOKING F 3/5: Brooklyn Book Bodega Members will sort, stamp, and pack books with Brooklyn Book Bodega to increase book access!
3/12: GOWANUS Pop-Up Stand Members will volunteer at Seeds in the Middle with various activites!
3/13: Volunteer Landscaping at Olmsted-Beil House Members will join various other organizations to help clean up along Arthur Road!
3/19: SFCC (Support the Sustainable Fashion Community Center) Members will help sort, organize, and hang clothing at the Sustainable Fashion Community Center!
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FORWARDS 3/20: NYRR United Half Members will help run the NYRR United Half in Central Park!
3/26: Dream Center NYC Members will help at one of Dream Center NYC's "packing parties" to fight food insecurity!
3/26: Charity Miles Members will walk, run, and bike on Charity Miles to support the Thirst Project!
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Announcements and Links Sign our petition sets!
Made by our lovely PR CoHeads Melody Jiang '24 and Rebecca Xie '23
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DIVISION AND BEYOND
Sign up for D11 emails!
Submit to D11's Panda Press here
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LINKS!!
1. Events Doc 2. Board Suggestions 3. Article/ Photo Submission Form 4. Points and Hours 5. Point and Hours Corrections
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F FI IN ND D U US S
BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB @BXSCIKEYCLUB BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB BRONX SCIENCE KEY CLUB HTTPS://BXSCIEN CEKEYCLUB.SQUAR ESPACE.COM/ 25
THE KIWI
THANKS FOR READING
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH