Reminders: The Chocolate is Here!

1. The See's Candies orders have arrived! (woohoo)
We have already split them up and put them into bags (except for those of you who ordered only one item), so all you to do is come to Monday's meeting! Please, please, please pick up your orders, or else there is no other way for us to give them to you. :(

2. Dress Christmas/holiday/festive-y on Monday! We will be taking a group picture for the yearbook. Next Monday is going to be the last meeting of the semester.

3. If you still haven't turned in your hour sheet, they are due no later than on Monday.

Other than that, good luck with your finals!

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Reminders: BIG Day Tomorrow!

1. See's Candies Fundraiser pre-order forms are due TOMORROW! No exceptions, because orders will be put in right after school. Please don't forget to read the instructions given in the envelope.

2. Hour sheets are also due TOMORROW. We will also be accepting NHS hour sheets to sign for your Trick-or-Treat boxes. But, you must have turned in at least one box. NHS hour sheets are due this Friday, the 13th.

3. Please don't forget these two things! Remind your friends! Meeting is in room 516 at lunch!

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12/2/13 Meeting

Today was a quick meeting, so there isn't an overload of announcements.

1. Hour sheets for UNICEF are due next Monday, December 9th. Remember, turning in these hour sheets is required to sustain your membership in the club (which is also something to keep in mind to see if you're applicable for PVSA). Also remember: 20 hours per semester, in which 10 summer hours maximum can be used.

2. NHS hours are due December 13th. If you need a signature for Trick-or-Treat boxes, please contact us so that Ceri, Eugenia, or Chaereen can sign your hour sheet. We sign for Key Club hour sheets as well!

3. See's Candies pre-order forms are officially due next Monday, December 9th. Any later will not be accepted because order will be put in that day. Please read the instruction sheet provided in the envelope before turning in order forms. WE DO NOT ACCEPT CHECKS. ONLY CASH.

4. Have a great rest of the week and hope to see everyone at the next meeting!

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Important Reminders (11/26/13)!

1. SOUPLANTATION FUNDRAISER IS TONIGHT! Make sure to show them a flyer! See you all there. :)

2. Good news; the See's Candies Fundraiser pre-order forms have arrived. Ceridwen, Eugenia, and Chaereen will be in front of the library during both brunches and lunch. Let us know if you are unable to meet us, and we'll figure out a way to give the form to you. Other than that, you MUST be present tomorrow.

RULES FOR THE SEE'S CANDIES FUNDRAISER:

1. Ask friends and family to do their holiday shopping through this fundraiser!
2. Try not to use the word "buy" when asking people, because it won't really be as warming as, "Would you like to help those affected by Typhoon Haiyan by ordering some chocolate?"
3. Make sure to fill out the phone number and write Y or N for texting.
4. Once you're done, please write down the total amount that you've ordered ON THE ENVELOPE. Then, fill out the bottom portion of your order form with the correct quantities. Do not write down the total that you've raised on this bottom portion.
5. Try not to accept checks; we strongly prefer cash.
6. Remember, this is for those affected by Typhoon Haiyan!

There is only room for fifteen orders. So if you happen to order for more than one person, just add the quantities to another person's order and be sure not to forget to record it. Example: Chaereen and fourteen other people order chocolate. Ceridwen wants to order chocolate too, but there isn't any room left on the official pre-order sheet. If Ceridwen and Chaereen want the same chocolate, they will add Ceri's quantity onto Chaereen's order).

If you still don't understand, don't worry, we'll explain it to you in person tomorrow.

BE THERE!

And by that, we mean both Souplantation and in front of the library. :)

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11/25/13 Meeting: The Grand Total!

HEY EVERYONE!

So during today's meeting, we went over quite a handful:

1. SEE'S CANDIES FUNDRAISER IS UNDER WAY. Each person, preferably PLEASE, must buy at least $25 worth of candy so that we can reach the minimum amount of money needed to even take part in this project. Ask your friends, family, and family friends. GET THE WORD OUT that we've got some yummy chocolates ready to be distributed! It's a great way to get your holiday shopping done early (tell that to your parents). Eugenia will be updating us when the pre-order forms for the candy arrive. We'll probably hold another mini meeting to pass them out, so stay tuned!

2. HOUR SHEETS ARE DUE DECEMBER 9TH. At the latest, we'll accept them by December 16th. Make sure that you've got twenty hours under your belt! If not... well, you'll be missing out on the amazing things in store if you DO reach twenty. (hint hint: prizes at the end of the year). And don't forget: if you're able to reach 100 by the end of this year, you'll be eligible for a PVSA award!

3. THE SOUPLANTATION FUNDRAISER IS TOMORROW, TUESDAY NOVEMBER 26TH, from 5 to 8 PM! We're writing this on teacher's boards all around the school! You need to show them our flyer at the restaurant, which you can print HERE.
Ask friends to go! Ask family! Family friends! The officers aren't going to be there for the full three hours, but we're all going to be going so we hope to see a lot of you there!
If you don't go... Chaereen is going to be sad. :(

#4. Finally... the grand total of our Trick-or-Treat fundraiser. Guys, we are SO proud of you all. We officially raised $641.03 with this one fundraiser! Pat yourselves on the back; amazing job, everybody!

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11/18/13 Meeting: BIG DAY

Hey everyone! Today's meeting was super important: we finally collected all of the Trick-or-Treat boxes. We gathered nearly sixty boxes, all of which were ready to explode. Thank you so much guys! Ceridwen, Eugenia, Chaereen, Aimiel, and Tyler will take charge in counting the money over this weekend. Once we finish, we will let you know of the grand total. Excited?!

Alright, today's agenda was quite a handful.

1. The See's Candies Fundraiser has officially begun! This is the main fundraiser for the month of December. We asked you guys on our sign-up sheets today whether or not you want to participate. If you were unable to attend the meeting, please comment below or email us by this Wednesday that you are willing to participate. This is a great way to gain an hour or two (heads up: hour sheets are due pretty soon), and an amazing opportunity for you to stock up on Christmas gifts. ALL that we earn through this fundraiser will be donated to the Philippines!

2. Speaking of which: UNICEF is currently providing emergency relief to those, specifically children, who have been affected by the recent devastation of Typhoon Haiyan. You can take action by texting RELIEF to 864233, by which you will be able to donate $10 with one text! Ask your parents to help you out. Or, you can head on here: https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=16500&16500.donation=form1&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=post&utm_content=11-16-13_14-30&utm_campaign=unicefusa. If you want, scroll down to the bottom of page where we linked UNICEF's official video for Haiyan Relief.

If any of you have other ideas to help fundraise for children in the Philippines, feel free to share! One member has already came up with the idea of setting a table out with information and asking for donations.

3. And we can't forget the main fundraiser of the month of November: Souplantation! REMINDER: the fundraiser is on November 26th from 5 ~ 8 PM. You can stop by the restaurant any time during this interval with our flyer, which you can download HERE. Souplantation's address is 24303 Town Center Dr #150, Valencia, CA 91355. Make sure to keep the receipt, so that we can give you hours ~
COME, COME, COME!

Happy Monday!

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Important Reminders!

Guess what, guys? It's time to start the See's Candies fundraiser!
But before we get started: We need a head count of how many people are willing to actually participate, because it costs money to even order the pre-order forms. So, please comment below if you are going to be participating in this awesome (and delicious) fundraiser.

Trick-or-Treat boxes are due on Monday, November 18th! Monday's meeting is extremely important, so please make sure to attend. Remember, it will be at lunch in room 516.

The Souplantation fundraiser is coming up! Mark your calendars: Tuesday, November 26th, from 5 to 8 PM. Souplantation's address is 24303 Town Center Dr #150, Valencia, CA 91355. You must have a flyer, which you can download HERE.

That's it! Hope to see you all on Monday.

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11/4/13 Meeting

Recap of today's meeting:

1. REMINDER: The Souplantation fundraiser is NOVEMBER 26TH from 5 ~ 8 PM! Each party must have a flyer with them (you can find the flyer HERE). You will get one hour for participating, but you must have your receipt to show us as proof.

Here is Souplantation's address: 24303 Town Center Dr #150, Valencia, CA 91355

2. Did everyone have a great Halloween? Trick-or-treat boxes must be turned in by November 18th. Please start bringing us your full boxes now, and remember that you can keep collecting money up until the boxes are due.

3. Hour sheets will be due either December 9th or 16th. We'll let you guys know when we make the final decision. You must have twenty hours (ten of which can be from service activities over the summer). We require some sort of proof of participation (ex. signature of supervisor, photograph of event).

4. Our next fundraiser will be See's Candies and will start November 18th when Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF ends. Orders for that will be due by December 2nd to ensure they arrive before school is out.

5. Congratulations to Eugenia Lee and Kevin Park for receiving the gold PVSA award! Great job guys ~

Feel free to comment if you have any questions!

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10/28/13 Meeting

Today's agenda:

1. We have officially reserved a spot at Souplantation for our fundraiser on November 26th (Tuesday), from 5:00 ~ 8:00 PM. The flyer is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6p-wytsVtzYdGZCT0dQeTcwN3M/edit?usp=sharing. Feel free to print it out yourself! You don't have to though, we will be handing physical copies to you guys soon. The file will be uploaded here and under Resources just in case you lose the physical copy that we're going to give you.

Invite your family and friends! Let's make it a blast.

2. Halloween is this Thursday! You know what that means - it's time to officially Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. Please make sure to be polite. We will be collecting boxes sometime next month, so you are able to continue to fill up those boxes until the collection date (we'll let you know soon).

3. NEW MEMBERS! Welcome to the club! Please follow these instructions:

• If you have a Facebook, please join our Facebook Group (click here)!
• To become an official member of UNICEF, you must sign up on Action Center (click here).
• Once you have made an account on Action Center, join Valencia High School's group page (click here). Ceridwen will approve your request as soon as she can.
• Make sure that you get an email from us by tonight; if not, please email us with your full name and grade here: valenciaUNICEF@gmail.com.
• You must earn a minimum of twenty hours this semester. Don't worry, it isn't going to be as hard as it sounds. We have some awesome fundraisers and we'll be giving out lots of hours! Through Trick-or-Treat, you can earn one hour for each box. But, if you are interested in receiving a PVSA certification (for more information, click PVSA at the top of the page), the minimum will be fifty hours per semester (or, just 100 hours in total this entire year for at least the bronze award). To download an hour sheet, click Resources at the top of the page. Hour sheets will be collected at the end of the semester. You are able to overlap your UNICEF and CSF/NHS hours. What does this mean? Let's say you volunteered at the public library for three hours. You can use those three for both your UNICEF and CSF/NHS hour sheets; you don't have to get three separate hours for UNICEF and another three hours for CSF/NHS.
• If you have any questions, don't be afraid to email us, contact us on Facebook, or find us at school (Ceridwen, Eugenia, Chaereen).

Happy Halloween, guys! Have fun trick-or-treating.

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10/21/13 Meeting

Today's agenda:

1. Souplantation fundraiser has been moved to November 26th! We realized that many families may be leaving for Thanksgiving Break and shifted the event up one day. Thank you to everyone who voted! We hope you can all come; we will be reminding you about the fundraiser for the next few weeks. Stay tuned, hours will be given!

2. Boxes were distributed today! Distribution went by smoothly - everyone received his or her boxes, so now it's time to fill 'em up! Feel free to ask teachers to put boxes in their classrooms, and you can even ask your parents to leave them at work. Remember that the maximum number of hours that you can receive is three. Good luck everybody!

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The Boxes Are Here!

Hey all!

The boxes have arrived! Monday's meeting will be largely devoted to handing out the boxes and going over proper Trick-or-Treat behavior.

Second, we need to vote again on the date for the Souplantation fundraiser. We are trying to decide between November 26th and November 27th. The former is a Tuesday and a school night. The latter is a Wednesday and the day before Thanksgiving, but keep in mind that many people may be going out of town. Please ask your families which day is better for them as well because we would really like to have a large and successful fundraiser.

Please make sure to attend Monday's meeting!

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10/14/13 Meeting

Hey guys, hope you all had an awesome Fall Break!

Today's agenda:

1. It's officially October, which means the biggest fundraiser of the year is right around the corner: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. Trick-or-Treat boxes are on their way; they will definitely come before Halloween. There seems to be a delay due to the overflowing number of orders. And guess what everyone? There's no school the day after Halloween. So if you were worrying that you wouldn't be able to go out on Halloween night because of school the next day... problem solved!

2. The local elementary school involvement has been unfortunately canceled. Our offer was denied because we are not a parental organization.

3. Hour sheets: For those of you who signed the petition that we provided a few weeks back, don't bother to ask us to sign it for you; just jot down on your hour sheet that you did it. When we collect the hour sheets at the end of the semester, we will confirm your hour with the records that we're keeping track of.

Are you guys filling up those hour sheets?! Remember: to receive the PVSA award, you must earn a minimum of one hundred hours (so fifty this semester) to receive the Bronze award. You guys can do it! The next point on the agenda is about fundraisers - and we are definitely offering hours if you attend these fundraisers.

Note! The PVSA website is currently closed due to the government shutdown. To the seniors who have given Chaereen their hours: she will be ordering the awards immediately after the website reopens, so let's hope we'll be able to get the awards on time for your college applications.

4. Planning ahead for the remaining months of the year, we have decided that we are going to host a Souplantation fundraiser for the month of November! It will be hosted on November 27th (mark your calendars). It is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Break, so no school the next day! You can stop by the restaurant with friends or family any time between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM. More information + flyers will be provided in the upcoming meetings.

We are also planning on having a See's Candies fundraiser for the month of December! Look out for more details soon.

If you did not receive an email today, please email us your full name and we will add you to our contact list. Go email valenciaUNICEF@gmail.com (as in, right now, immediately, GO TO YOUR EMAIL)!

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9/30/13 Meeting

Highlights of the meeting:

1. Ceridwen's Action Center account is currently not working, so she is unable to approve any new members. Please still register, but it may be a little while until she can approve you.

2. If you have not yet signed the presidential petition, please do. It's a really easy service hour and only takes a minute. The link is this: https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=229&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=image-description&utm_content=2013-09-24_18-00&utm_campaign=unicefusa

3. The Trick-or-Treat boxes have been ordered. When they arrive, we will be explaining good ways to go about collecting money. We want to be polite and respectful to uphold the reputation of the UNICEF organization.

4. If you did not receive an email from us today, please email us your name to valenciaUNICEF@gmail.com so that we can add you to our contact list.

5. If you are yet to print out your hour sheet, go over to that black bar at the top and click Resources. You can download hour sheets from there.

Next week is Fall Break, so there will be no meeting next week. But, please make sure to check up on us in case we have any updates.

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Believe in Zero: Down to 18,000!

It's official: we're down to 18,000 preventable deaths per day!

If you sign the pledge to remind the President about his commitment to end preventable child deaths, we will give you ONE HOUR!

Click here: https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&cmd=display&page=ActionAlertTakenPage&id=229

Once you send the message (we trust you to really do it), comment 'Done' below. On your hour sheet, write, "Signed pledge for ZERO", and ask either Ceridwen, Eugenia, or Chaereen to sign it for you.

Before any unimaginable idea can become real, there has to be someone who believes in it. We believe in ZERO.

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9/23/13 Meeting

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay; here's a recap of today (okay technically yesterday)'s meeting.

1) If you haven't already, PLEASE make sure to create an account on UNICEF's Action Center. For returning members, just log in the make sure that you are an active member of the Valencia High School UNICEF group. Here's the link to Action Center: http://actioncenter.unicefusa.org. You must sign up on Action Center to be an official member of the club!

2) Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes! On the sign-in sheets today, you were supposed to specify the amount of boxes you want to fill up. Each member wanted at least two (yay)! Remember, you get an hour per filled box, and you can get a maximum of three hours (three boxes). If you were unable to attend the meeting, please message any of the co-presidents to order your boxes. We will be ordering them as a huge batch as soon as possible.

Also, if you have any friends or siblings who want to participate in this fundraiser, feel free to order for them as well! We mentioned this briefly during today's meeting, but we are planning on distributing boxes to local elementary schools. We are yet to receive a confirmation from the Saugus District, but when we do, we'll let you know how that's going to work out!

3) If you are just joining UNICEF, check out our previous posts and explore this website! Welcome to the club ~

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9/16/13 Meeting

IMPORTANT UPDATE: UNICEF MEETINGS WILL NOW BE OFFICIALLY HELD IN MR. MCKEE’S ROOM ONLY! EVERY MONDAY @ LUNCH IN ROOM 516!

Here are the announcements from today's meeting:

1. Congratulations to our newly elected officers!

2. You must sign up on Action Center. This is mandatory for everyone. If you do not sign up, you  will not be an official member of the UNICEF Club. Please make sure to sign up by next week's meeting; we're going to check! Click the following link, or you can click the Action Center link in the header + sidebar. http://actioncenter.unicefusa.org

3. For those of you have a Facebook, please join our Facebook group page: VHS UNICEF Club (PVSA Certified). If you know you have a friend who wasn't at today's meeting, but would like to still join UNICEF, please separately email us your friend's name and email.

4. We will be pre-ordering our "Trick-or-Treat" boxes for our October fundraiser. Please message us or let us know by next meeting a rough estimate of the number of boxes you want. One box = one hour, and one member can earn a maximum of three hours (three boxes). There's no limit to how many boxes you want to fill up, but the limit for hours is three. A reminder for NHS students: you can use these hours for your NHS hour sheets.

5. We want all of our members involved in brainstorming for fundraisers! Restaurants (we mentioned Chipotle today), holiday parties, you name it. If you have any ideas, please share!

6. Lastly, hour sheets MAY be turned in monthly, if you wish to do so. Remember: your semester goal is at least 20 hours, but in order to get the PVSA certification, you need at least 50 hours.

Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting! Have a great rest of the week. Let us know if you have any questions or comments!

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2013-2014 Official Executive Board

Congratulations to the UNICEF officers for the 2013-2014 school year! Thank you to everyone who participated in the interviews. After many discussions among the presiding officers, we have decided to create the Trainee position. Trainees will work with the directors to learn more about being officers for UNICEF to hopefully leave the club in capable hands after the seniors leave. Congratulations once more!

Also, remember that there is a UNICEF meeting tomorrow in Mr. McKee's room (Room 516). We will be talking about registration with the UNICEF Action Center and other important member information. Please be there!

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9/9/13 | First Meeting!

Whoo, thank you so much to everyone who turned up! Here is what we discussed during our first meeting today.

1. What is UNICEF anyways? Click here. Oh, and scroll down to the bottom of the page to watch an amazing video!

2. Our meetings will take place every Monday at lunch. The location will go back and forth between the theater and Mr. McKee's room (Room 516). As you can see, our first meeting took place in the theater; which means, next week's meeting will be in Mr. McKee's room!

If we do have meetings in the theater, absolutely NO eating or drinking is allowed!

3. The 2013-2014 presiding officers are Ceridwen (Ceri) Driskill, Eugenia Lee, and Chaereen Pak. We have three officer positions available this year: Director of Financial Planning and Analysis (A.K.A. treasurer), Director of Communications and Public Relations, and Director of Broadcast and Non-Profit Journalism. Download the application here (it's under Resources). Interviews will be held this Friday (Sept. 13th [ha ha]) after school in Mr. McKee's room. You MUST bring the filled-out application to your interview. More information about the interviews will be announced later on this week.

4. Hours this year will consist of a minimum of twenty hours per semester. Don't worry, it isn't going to be as hard as it sounds. We have some awesome fundraisers coming up and we'll be giving out lots of hours! But, if you are interested in receiving a PVSA certification (for more information, click here and here), the minimum will be fifty hours per semester. To download the hour sheet, click here.

We have also verified with Ms. Henry, that you are able to overlap your UNICEF and CSF/NHS hours. What does this mean? Let's say you volunteered at the public library for three hours. You can use those three for both your UNICEF and CSF/NHS hour sheets; you don't have to get three separate hours for UNICEF and another three hours for CSF/NHS.

5. Our main goal this year is to fundraise $50 per month! LET'S DO THIS!

6. If you have any questions or concerns, contact us through this email: valenciaUNICEF@gmail.com. Or, add us on Facebook and contact us (Eugenia Lee, Ceridwen Driskill, Chaereen Pak).

7. If you did not receive an email from us today (valenciaUNICEF@gmail.com), please email us your address as soon as possible so that we can add you to our mailing list!

We hope to see more members show up as more events and community service opportunities will slowly be introduced! See you all next week.

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VHS Club Day 2013

Introducing: the grand launch of VHS UNICEF Club's official site. Welcome, to all of our new and returning members. Club Day was a complete success! Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table, and a big thanks to Ali Mancia (not pictured) for being the Trick-or-Treat box for the day.

The first meeting of this year is going to be held in the THEATER next MONDAY (September 9th). This month is all about introducing UNICEF to our club members. We will be discussing upcoming fundraisers, volunteer hours, attendance, officer positions, and much more. We will also be taking a group photo for the yearbook.

We strongly encourage you to attend. Hope to see everyone there!

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