Global Aid Club helping end world hunger

The generosity of a group of Upland High School students is going global.

The Global Aid Club held a fundraiser Saturday evening to raise money to purchase livestock from the Heifer International to be given to impoverished families across the world.

"The purpose of the project is to give families the ability to feed themselves, start their own business, and bring them from poverty to the bottom of the middle class," said Tristan Raniga, 17 year-old senior and co-president of the club.

Members of the Upland High choral department sang, members of the band Johnny Come Lately performed. Student art was on display and a silent auction was held.

Donation buckets were set up to raise money to buy a cow, a water buffalo, a sheep, a goat and a chicken, said Kati Bornholdt, 18, co-president and the event's organizer.

"In Africa, families inflicted with HIV require nourishment as their medications do not work on an empty stomach," Bornholdt said. "By giving a family a cow and teaching them how to produce dairy products and take care of the animal, Heifer not only provides them with the needed source of food, but an additional source of income as they now can sell the dairy from their cow to their neighbors and in the local village to boost their standard of living and pay for their health care costs."

When Bornholdt and Raniga became co-presidents in 2007, they made it a goal of the theirs to get involved with Heifer International.

"Instead of just sending a check to a village or a refugee camps, Global Aid decided to know exactly what they were purchasing," Bornholdt said. "A few years ago, some friends and I were joking around about wanting to purchase a water buffalo and when I found that through Heifer International this was a possibility I put it into our Global Aid itinerary."

The club was finally able to reach their goal of getting involved with Heifer during Saturday's event.

"We believe that giving families across the world the chance to create their own well being is a start to the ultimate global goal of ending hunger," Raniga said.

In all the club has been able to raise and donate over $20,000 in the club's young four-year life span, Raniga said.

In the past the club has donated money towards Pakistani earthquake relief, the Southeast Asian tsunami disaster, and the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

"Over the years Global Aid has done many different projects," Bornholdt said. "For the past two years we've focused on purchasing concrete, useful objects to send to places with economic and political hindrances."

Bornholdt, joined the club three years ago.

"I was raised in a family of very avid travelers, and because of this I have visited developing countries with agrarian based economies and impoverished families," Bornholdt said. "I was excited that a group of students at my suburban high school wanted to help out and learn more about international causes."

The club also has a recycling program, where students collect bottles and cans from Upland High every Friday.

Raniga, discussed the program idea with Principal Guy Roubian before purchasing baskets and trash bags to put in the teacher's rooms throughout campus.

The bottles and cans are then recycled at a local recycling plant to generate money for the club to support its programs and functions.

"After a few months the program became a hit," Raniga said. "Students would donate recyclables from home and became more aware of the club and our goal. The importance of the recycling program is the fact that it kills two birds with one stone in that it is an environmentally friendly project raising awareness while donating all of the proceeds to a charitable cause."