Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) kicked off October with its monthly hat day fundraiser for Kaps for Kids, a foundation that brings joy to children with challenging medical conditions.President, Nakaiya Kuskie (21) said FCCLA ended up making $103.05 from the fundraiser. On Friday, Oct. 11, students were permitted to wear hats to school in exchange for one dollar.

Kuskie said they hope to expand their club and get more students involved. “The expansion of our club, I think that’s been one of our biggest goals, especially this year because in the past couple of years we’ve lost big aspects of our club,”  Kuskie said.

Another goal for FCCLA is community outreach. “We’ve done the EECO sale and then our big red tailgates. Also, we have a group of people that are helping Wreaths Across America people. We also did Say Yes to the Dress,” Adviser Amy Irwin said. Say Yes to the Dress is when students can donate dresses to FCCLA. After donations, students are able to purchase the dresses for cheaper than a retail store. The ECCO sale is like a giant garage sale where clubs and students are able to bring in items they no longer want or need and sell them.

Along with their goals, one of the clubs hopes is for people to know who they are. “We just want to get the word out there like what is FCCLA and why do we do that,” Irwin said. FCCLA is a club that offers leadership and life skills to students throughout the U.S, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Students learn skills like planning and advising that they can use in the future for a job.