Color Me Curious (CMC), a nonprofit organization started by MHS students, and Milpitas Interact are hosting a Toy and Art Drive until Dec. 19, where students can donate in exchange for community service hours. So far, they have raised over 150 donations as of Dec. 12, CMC said in a direct message. CMC extended the drive from Nov. 21 due to the drive’s success, CMC founder and Interact Board Director of Fundraising Mahika Mahesh said in an email.
One of the goals for CMC is to work with hospitals and to introduce art to the hospital patients, Mahesh said.
“We are in contact with a few hospitals, and I know that they really like donations,” Mahesh added. “They like toys, and the list that we have is actually a list that was given to us by one of the hospitals — Lucile Packard Hospital.”
CMC and Interact have boxes set up in several classes on campus and the library, where students can drop off toys or art supplies for CMC to collect, junior and Interact board member Aileen Nguyen said.
“If someone wanted to donate, they would find the box, put their toys into the box, take a picture, and send an email to the Interact Gmail account with their name, ID, the amount of toys they brought, and a picture of the toys in the box,” Aileen Nguyen said.
Students get one hour for every item they donate, and they can get a maximum of 40 hours, Mahesh said. The library has a small sign-up sheet for the drive, she added.
“You would sign your name there, and then we would see if you donated,” Mahesh said.
One of the reasons why they are holding the drive is because Christmas is coming up, Interact
Inter-Committee member and CMC Volunteer Coordinator Kevin Nguyen said. The drive is also good
for CMC, since it’s a new youth-led nonprofit, he added.
“We’re trying to gain more publicity, so people know who we are, and we just can get more connections through that,” Kevin Nguyen said.
As Interact’s board director of fundraisers, Mahesh works with the board director of service to plan how to meet their monthly goal of fundraisers and service events for their board members and Inter-Committee to execute.
“We got together, and we just brainstormed in our monthly meeting,” Mahesh said. “I proposed this idea because I wanted to get Color Me Curious out into our school, so I was like, ‘Why not do it with Interact?’”
Publicity is the most important factor that goes behind planning these kinds of events, Mahesh said. Publicity, like in the form of Instagram reels, usually reaches a larger audience, she added.
“It was kind of a rushed event because it’s our first one,” Mahesh said. “But in the future, I want to probably do more reels, just so we can get it out and get more donations.”
Mahesh encourages everyone to support the Toy and Art Drive, since the drive goes toward a good cause, she said.
“A lot of the fundraising clubs, including Interact, do a lot of events,” Mahesh said. “It’s a really great way to meet new people and get your volunteer hours.”
