Once or twice a week, whenever the Oakridge School Owls take to the court or field, you'll find Vengseng Lor, Tiffany Tu and Vincent Germain manning the concession stand.
This year, the seniors founded the Grub Club, which on its surface serves to boost attendance at Oakridge sporting events.
“We saw that gap where people weren't coming to or showing up to games early enough because they had to go eat at sports practice, so we saw that gap where we could sell food and get people to come earlier and stay longer,” said Germain.
It was especially needed and true at events that don’t draw the same crowds that flock to Friday night football games. But according to the trio, the Grub Club was really born out of a desire to help others.
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"I think for me it was just about giving back to other students,” said Tu.
That's why they used this semester's profit of $1,300 to purchase more than 30 bikes for Mission Arlington.
"They were doing an annual bike drive where they get these bikes for, you know, people who are less fortunate than us,” said Lor.
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The school's athletic director doubled the gift. And this past weekend, 60 school volunteers assembled the 70 or so bikes that were delivered via parade.
"A lot of people were cheering us on. It was just so much fun seeing everyone,” said Tu.
Germain, Tu and Lor said while the Grub Club wasn't their first attempt at forming a charity, lessons learned from past failures helped lead to their success.
Next semester, they hope to donate school supplies and train more members to keep the grub club going long after they graduate.
"It turned out to be something bigger than any of us could've imagined. But just to know the work we did was able to make such meaningful impact in so many people's lives, we would definitely tell people listening to know that they can make change and have an impact on their community,” said Germain.
