Community Work
Showing Up for
Our Neighbors
Talent shows, clothing drives, fundraisers and now a home for 20 children in Uganda: the projects our members have organized for causes from Alzheimer’s research to earthquake relief.
$9,000+
raised across five fundraisers
500+
students at our Alzheimer’s talent show
60
bags of clothes for NYC shelters
9
community projects and counting
Why we do it
Health equity starts close to home
Not every project is about medicine. Raising money for disease research, getting supplies to disaster zones, supporting immigrant families and keeping isolated people connected all shape whether a community stays healthy. These are the projects our members have led so far.
Now raising · Love Uganda Foundation · Kampala, Uganda
A Permanent Home for 20 Children
The Love Uganda Foundation provides full-time care, schooling and healthcare for 20 orphaned and vulnerable children aged 7 to 19. We have been teaching the children health lessons for over a year.
The foundation’s home is rented, and the landlord keeps raising the rent. The foundation already owns land for a permanent home and needs about $5,500 (UGX 20,000,000) to build a six-bedroom house on it. Funds will be released in stages as construction moves forward, with photo updates at every step.
01 · Alzheimer’s Association · Great Neck, NY
Teacher Talent Show for Alzheimer’s
Heartbroken by the lack of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, more than 50 club members at Great Neck South High spread the word through classrooms, clubs and after-school activities, and organized the school’s first annual teacher talent show: more than 20 acts, from LED dancing and trombone solos to singing duets and original poetry.
More than 500 students came, and the show raised over $6,000 ($5,600 after tax) for the Alzheimer’s Association.
02 · Earthquake relief · New York
Turkey & Syria Earthquake
On February 6, 2023, a devastating earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing more than 50,000 people and injuring over 100,000. We hosted a fundraiser in New York and raised over $500 for the families affected.
03 · Immigrant support · Long Island & Uganda
$1,700 for CARECEN and the Redemption Song Foundation
Many of our members’ parents are immigrants, so we know how hard it is to start over somewhere new. Half of the $1,700 raised at a second teacher talent show went to CARECEN, which gives free and low-cost legal support to immigrants on Long Island.
The other half went to the Redemption Song Foundation, helping bring clean water to the Batwa community in south-western Uganda and covering school transport and supplies for its children.
04 · Fair trade · Central America
The Pulsera Project
We sold handwoven bracelets made by the 200+ artisans of The Pulsera Project at Great Neck South High, and pointed hundreds of passing students to the project’s films about the artists’ lives. The sales raised over $500 for education, housing and healthcare programs in Central America.
05 · Clothing drive · New York City
60 Bags of Clothes for Love Your Bag
Love Your Bag supplies clothing and essentials to 13 shelters across New York City. Our clothing drive collected more than 60 thirty-gallon bags of clothes for them to pass on.
06 · Humanitarian aid · Ukraine
Ukraine Movie Fundraiser
Some of our members have Ukrainian friends, and we could not stand by while families were driven from their homes. In April 2022 we hosted a movie fundraiser at the Manhasset theater that raised over $470, most of which bought First Aid Bleed Stop kits.
07 · School community · Great Neck South High
New Signs for Our Bus Drivers
The old bus signs at South High were hard to read, so we made new ones, with thank-you notes and drawings on the back so the drivers who get everyone to school know they are appreciated.
08 · Patient support · New York
Cards for Hospitalized Patients
Isolation in hospital can bring anxiety and depression. We made cards of encouragement for hospitalized children and adults in New York to remind them that people are thinking of them.
Get involved
Have a cause your community needs?
We are always looking for the next project. Tell us about a need near you, or start a CHEN chapter at your school.
