The Passion for Children Club at Cerritos College raises funds for children in need in Africa.

Jada Blanshard, biology major and president of the Passion for Children Club, was inspired to help children in need in Africa.

“My mom started this because she is really passionate about children and she grew up in Africa and she saw the hard times and she started the club,” Blanshard said.

Blanshard went to Africa in 2010 with her mom she still recalls seeing this boy in the hospital burned from head to waist.

Although Blanshard was only 15-years-old at that time she knew things were serious and something had to be done.

She was born in Sierra Leone and lived through a civil war. She saw kids in Africa struggle to have what other kids have.

“Most youth here don’t appreciate what they have. How they are dressed or what car they have,” Blanshard said.

People donating to the club will be told where the money is going and who it is benefiting.

“When we get the money, [they] can use it for toys, bandages, things they can’t afford,” said Shekib Jaili, business major and vice president of the club. Some money will be donated to the local hospitals and to Sierra Leone.

On Wednesday, April 23 the club will participate in Global Village. The event will be located at the Falcon Square.

“We can decorate our booth as well as have bracelets,” said Dennis Garcia, biology major and secretary of the club. Garcia added that bracelets, shirts and African snacks will be sold in the Falcon square.

Alex Alvidrez, biology major, joined the club because he can relate with Blanshard’s story.

“I joined because my family grew up in Mexico poor that’s the reason I came because I know how it feels to not have a lot.”

Alvidrez knows how it feels to grow up poor and not having everything that other people have.

This club meets every second and fourth Wednesday of the month from 11 a.m. to noon at the Social Science building, Room 307.