Sequoia prides itself in its melting pot of cultures and its clubs that are focused on making a real difference. These organizations were on full display last week at Sequoia’s annual food fair. Clubs and student unions met in the quad on Wednesday, April 15 to promote their clubs and fundraise by selling good food. More than 15 clubs set up stands at the fair to share what they do and why they do it. One such club, the Glamour Gals, is trying to make a difference in the lives of the elderly. 

“We target senior isolation and loneliness by going to elderly homes and talking to the ladies there and painting their nails,” Club Member Fiona Bakshi said. “Students should join our club because it’s important for everyone to feel beautiful and helping someone feel beautiful is a gift.”

Sequoia’s Glamour Gals is just one chapter of the national Glamour Gals organization. Throughout the country, students are provided with the tools and organizing to provide services to their community. Despite the name, ”Glamour Gals”, the club is open to anyone who wants to make a difference in an elderly person’s life,   according to Bakshi. Besides clubs however, many student unions also showed up to the Food Fair to raise funds and awareness for their causes. 

“[The Asian Student Union] is a community-based club for all students at Sequoia to join to learn about Asian culture, history and tradition,” ASU President Ethan Butt said. 

The ASU brought a Southeast Asian dessert called butter mochi. Butter mochi is made from a base of rice flour and coconut milk, and results in a soft and spongey cake-like texture with a golden-brown crust that tastes heavenly.

“We chose [Butter Mochi] because, from what we’ve seen, not a lot of people know about it. It’s not a common food that people around Redwood City would come across, but a lot of people seem to enjoy it.” Butt said. “We came [to the Food Fair] because we wanted to fundraise for our  club, so that in the future we can do cooler activities that might require a bit of funding. But also, we wanted to share some of the foods from our culture with the students here at Sequoia.”  

Many students left the Food Fair well fed, well informed, and could rest easy knowing that their purchases had gone toward helping these amazing clubs to keep doing what they do best – Helping others. School events like the Food Fair are what keep these clubs running, their members happy, and their differences real.