While most students went to their six classes at Gunn, those who participated in Service Day went to six different cities and helped out 11 organizations on Mar. 6. Service Day was started more than ten years ago by Yiaway Yeh, (‘96), who is currently a city council member.

This year, students helped out organizations including RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers) in Sunnyvale, Half Moon Bay State Beach and Elkus Ranch in Half Moon Bay, the American Red Cross, Canopy Magic and Aceterra in Palo Alto, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at the Baylands, Sacred Heart Community Service and Innvision in San Jose and the Second Harvest Food Bank in San Carlos.

Activities at the sites included planting trees, preparing materials for teachers, cleaning animal pens, weeding, sorting and packing food and clothing, preparing CPR training-class materials, spreading mulch and restoring native plant populations on the bike path between Gunn and Bol Park. Sophomore Emma Stotz chose to go to the Half Moon Bay State Beach site. “It was a good experience,” Stotz said. “We learned a lot about indigenous plants, and a lot of my friends also went, so it was a lot of fun.”

Because the Youth Community Service club and the Interact club merged together at the beginning of the school year, senior YCS/Interact Club co-president Naomi Shachter said there is a wider pool of club members to lead the activities. “On Service Day, we ask the club members act as the leaders,” Shachter said.

Service Day is sponsored by the YCS/Interact Club and is open to all students. “Some people try to sign up after the deadline and on the day of, but we have to turn them away,” Shachter said. YCS/Interact Club meets on Mondays in L-4 during lunch.