The sweet smell of ice cream wafted out of the Learning Commons doors. Students roamed the halls with paper cups, which they filled with scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with sprinkles or chocolate sauce. But who created this ice cream craze on a regular Wednesday afternoon? That would be the Holiday Joy Foundation, which, on October 30, turned $3 scoops of ice cream into over $700 in donations to give to children in need this holiday season.

The Holiday Joy Foundation, founded by sophomore Alex Stamos, began this school year. “We aim to raise a bunch of money so we can buy gifts for children who can’t afford it during the holidays,” Alex said. He took inspiration to start the club from his late grandfather. “He was super focused on giving back to people, and I thought I should continue that,” he said.

Just three months since the club’s founding, the Holiday Joy Foundation has already made its mark at Latin with over 15 members on their financial board. These members help executive board members—including Alex (the club’s head), sophomore Leon Baker (vice-head), sophomore Klein Khim (head of financials), and freshman David Patterson (Pilsen advisor)—generate ideas for fundraisers.

The successful ice cream social and Alex’s animated assembly announcements make the club well-known in the Upper School. Alex attributes the club’s popularity to his willingness to put himself out there. “I basically asked every single person, ‘Hey, join my club,’” Alex said.

Klein attested to Alex’s persuasion. “I was at the club’s fair, and Alex really wanted me to sign up,” she said. “He sent out the application to be a club head, and I thought I might as well apply.”

Klein assumed the role of head of financials at the Holiday Joy Foundation. “I figure out how much money we need and where we are in terms of our goals for fundraising,” she said. “We want to try holding a lot more fundraisers in the second semester.”

David also got involved with the Holiday Joy Foundation at the Clubs Fair. “It seemed like something I wanted to do in the long run,” David said. He believed taking part in the Holiday Joy Foundation would benefit him outside of the club as well. “It’s the best foot forward for me to have better leadership skills,” David said. “But giving back also just makes me feel good as a person. It’s good to give back to those who are less fortunate.”

David’s role in the Holiday Joy Foundation is to contact the organizations that they partner with and update them on how much money the club has. Upper School Director of Student Life Tim Cronister advised the club to focus on asylum seeking children in Chicago. Mr. Cronister put them in contact with migrant shelters in Chicago as well as the Pilsen Community Academy, where many asylum seeking children attend elementary school. This holiday season, the Holiday Joy Foundation will donate toys to these children.

Mr. Cronister’s experience helped guide the club’s first fundraiser to success. After Alex proposed the ice cream social, the Student Service Learning Board, a committee of eight students and three advisors, had to approve it. As the club’s advisor, Mr. Cronister ensured that the fundraiser didn’t overlap with any of the 20 other service clubs in the Upper School. He then arranged the many tubs of ice cream from Handcut Foods.

Alex took on the role of promoting the event. “You have to be friendly and call people over,” he said. “You can’t just expect them to know.”

The variety of available payment methods also helped to raise ice cream sales. “A majority of our payments [from students] came from Venmo, not cash,” Alex said. Mr. Croinster gave club heads a student Venmo, which proved a vital resource to the success of the fundraiser. From the Venmo alone, the Holiday Joy Foundation raised $130.

The Holiday Joy Foundation was not done after the ice cream social. They held a schoolwide raffle on November 20 and 21, offering very generous prizes such as a $300 Lettuce Entertain You gift card and club-level Blackhawks tickets, with all the proceeds going to children at the Pilsen Community Academy. This fundraiser was also a huge hit and raised over $1,000. Both students and teachers donated.

These fundraisers only mark the beginning of the Holiday Joy Foundation. Alex has an even bigger vision for the club in future years. The Holiday Joy Foundation hopes to continue its partnership with the Pilsen Community Academy with a more face-to-face approach. “I hope to have a special scheduled day where the school will come over and we can have a bunch of toys set up in the gym and some rotating holiday activities,” Alex said.

For the time being, Alex takes pride in his club’s progress. “Honestly, I thought it would take longer for us to raise so much money,” he said, “I’m very happy with where we are.”