A Friend in Me (AFIM) is a club at Rancho Cucamonga High School that strives to help provide a sense of normalcy for pediatric cancer patients as they undergo treatment.
The club’s goal is to organize events for diagnosed patients. The club makes gifts and decorations for their hospital room, sets up themed events for holidays, and hosts a yearly prom event. The club often volunteers at the City of Hope Hospital.
“We help decorate the hospital for Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month in September with gold decor,” junior and AFIM treasurer, Vaishnavi Aedavalli, said. “We also send in painted rocks, crafted flowers, and other artsy things to give to the patients.”
This club was started by former RCHS student Harshith Sadhu, who is currently a freshman in college, during his freshman year at RCHS in 2018. He communicated closely with the head of the AFIM organization to organize events for the club. According to club officers, Sadhu was inspired to make the club to help out at a patient interaction event the organization was hosting. After being able to talk and interact with the patients, he wanted to be able to further help support the patients’ and the organization’s goals by making the club.
“He wanted to expand the reach of the [AFIM] non-profit organization and gather people from our school to assist with their events,” Aedavalli said.
The club on the Rancho campus is a division of the official AFIM organization. This national organization’s goal is to bring comfort to pediatric cancer patients. While being treated, many kids miss out on opportunities to meet with friends or visit other places. The founder, Neeharika Pendekanti, created this organization to ensure that kids won’t miss out on the experiences of childhood.
The club allows volunteers to help at hospitals, interact with patients, and participate in virtual volunteering events while earning community service hours for participating in the club’s events. Members support the families of these patients, help raise money for hospitals and organizations, and make a difference in their community.
“The club’s goal is to provide support to pediatric patients and their families; we help organize events that patients aren’t able to experience normally because they have to be in the hospital,” junior and club secretary, Allison Chen, said. “Anyone who is interested in volunteering at hospitals or looking for opportunities to earn community service hours can join!”
Future events that RCHS students can look forward to for this club include an origami flower collaboration with Moon Club, a club on campus that makes origami for organizations in need, in B101 on Wednesdays, which will be used to decorate hospitals in February.
AFIM is starting another collaboration with Kits and Kaboodles, a club on campus that makes kits for kids in hospitals. They will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 23, and finish on Tuesday, Feb. 6, with both meetings at B104 from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Meetings are held on the first and last Thursday of the month in room B104 from 3:30 – 4 p.m. Students can follow the AFIM Instagram account @afriendinme.rchs and their Remind @afim24.
“It’s been an awesome experience volunteering with the organization so far, they are incredibly passionate about their work,” senior and club president, Alyssa Do, said. “I hope to raise more awareness and support about their cause!”
