UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is an organization that helps defend the rights of children. Its headquarters is located right here in New York City and it works in 190 countries around the world. I attended Baruch’s UNICEF club this past Thursday to learn more about what the organization does and how students at Baruch can be involved as well. There were two main committees: fundraising and raising awareness, and marketing and communications. The heads of the club showed us pictures from the past years of students being involved in different events for fundraising. It was nice to see leadership playing a key role in these events and seeing how genuinely happy people were to help. I plan on staying with the club throughout the semester and future years because I have done community service in high school as well and enjoyed coming together with other people to help an important cause. I’m especially looking forward to the Halloween fundraiser, which is known to be a hit in Baruch according to the heads of the club. Trick-or-treat boxes will be handed out to those in the club to raise money for the organization prior to the main event.

I did my own research to see what else UNICEF has done over the years. I found out that they came up with Millennium Development Goals with missions to accomplish, and some even have been accomplished in certain countries. Even though challenges arise, the organization still strives to save children in regions that are more difficult to help than others. Major celebrities have even contributed to UNICEF, most notably David Beckham. He created “7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund,” which is his commitment to save children from dangers in their life by protecting their rights. I found this inspiring since it’s important for celebrities to use their platform to raise awareness for problems as big as this. The more attention UNICEF brings, the better it will be for children in need.