A couple of years ago, the FM International Club was seconds away from falling apart. There were only a few members consisting of seniors. Fast forward three years later, FMI has nearly 30 members and is a very popular and involved club at FMHS.
“When the club kinda fell apart, we were like…let’s just go in and give this club like some more life,” said Will Merriam. Will is currently a senior at the FMHS. He is the vice president of the FM International Club and works hard to make improvements further in the club.
FMI is described as a club that seeks to engage and stimulate community involvement in addressing the needs of children in impoverished areas around the globe. After the recent success at the Activities Fair, the club is working hard to plan things for this upcoming year. The club is growing day by day as students eagerly signed up for the recent handball tournament. Will said, “Right now we’re donating to a school that was hit by a hurricane in Vietnam and that’s what our handball tournament is for.”
Last year the club held a fundraiser where they had a showing of Elf in the LGI. People were able to buy Pavone’s pizza and hot cocoa. From this fundraiser, they were able to raise nearly $250. Although that may seem like a lot of money, Will said, “It’s hard to see tangible effects of our donations sometimes.” Even though the FMI Club has had a positive impact on the places they assist, the donations are just a small proportion of what they really need. That is what keeps the FMI Club working so hard.
The club had a successful year last year, but this year they are looking to further improve their club even more. “Right now we have a specific goal of if we get 1,500 dollars, we can repair school windows that were taken out by a hurricane, the one in Vietnam,” said Will. Due to advances in technology, the impact that the members feel has become more apparent. “Now we could like get pictures of how much we’d actually be helping a school, and like it would probably feel really good to know we helped,” said Will.
In addition to feeling good about helping others, the club is a lot of fun. Member Samira Patel said, “I think it’s a great fun environment and I enjoy coming to the meetings.” Samira is a current junior and has actively been a member of the club for around three years. The club is seen as a positive and welcoming environment for all. FMI has a very high return rate of members. Samira said, “ The people in the club I think, they make it fun.”
FMI promotes their club by updating their followers on their Instagram account and posting flyers around school. The meetings are held on Thursdays in Ms. Phelan’s class in room 1207.
