- Huskies Character
- Huskies Community
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An introduction to the M.U.S.H. club: a club that hopes to benefit the community and provide service to those in need.
Introduction to the M.U.S.H. Club
By Ellie McGuire and Honoka Uchiya; Photos by Honoka Uchiya
Introduction
Whether it be through pollution or mental health, there are a lot of common problems appearing throughout the world. However, instead of letting those problems build up into becoming near impossible to solve, a group of people can be formed to work together to combat these problems. This is what the volunteer group M.U.S.H. strives to do. By providing acts of service through volunteering to pick up trash, donate blood, or host fun-raisers to support local places, M.U.S.H. hopes to help and give back to the communities of Hokkaido.
What is M.U.S.H.?
M.U.S.H. is an acronym that stands for “Multicultural Understanding and Service House.” The word was also chosen due to its connection with our school mascot, the Husky, as mush is a common word used for dog sledding to propel the dogs forward! As the name suggests, the main purpose of M.U.S.H. is to try and figure out ways to move forward to help out our community and connect with those outside our school group. This is done through trash clean-up, an annual blood donation drive, and possible food fundraisings to collect money that could later be donated to a shelter or local hospital. As we think of more ideas or acts of service that could be done, we hope to give back to the people who have welcomed us into the beautiful place of Hokkaido.
What We Have Done and Plans for the Future
In the past, a popular activity of M.U.S.H. was the weekly trash cleanup. This involved groups of around five to seven people walking around Sumikawa in order to find any pieces of trash that could be picked up. For around one hour every Thursday, groups would walk to different places and regroup at the school once the time was up. The trash would then be divided into non-burnable, burnable, cans or plastic bottles, and others. The last step would be to throw out the different bags of trash into their respective bins.
Another activity was snow shoveling once the winter season had come. Due to Hokkaido having a long and very snowy winter, the steps that many students take to get to school would become frozen making it easy to accidentally slip and hurt yourself. Seeing how this was becoming a serious issue, M.U.S.H. decided to take this problem into their own hands. They started a snow shoveling clean-up that would be held whenever the steps started to freeze up again. This helped many students get to school and back more safely, as they didn't have to worry about possibly slipping on the steps.
Listed below are some more ideas that have been brought up by members of the club:
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Supplying sanitary pads in the women's restrooms
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Taking care of our school garden
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Food drive to acquire donations
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Blood drives to contribute to the supply and need for blood
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Working or helping in a soup kitchen to help provide food to those in need
Where We Can Be Found
M.U.S.H. is happy to report that we have almost reached the fifty-club member mark with only three more students to that number. Every Wednesday, we have a meeting during lunch to discuss the events of the week and possibly spend some more time thinking about different acts of service. On Thursdays, our weekly trash clean-up is held from 3:45 to around 4:30, however there may be some changes depending on how many members can participate. If anyone is looking to join this or next year, please contact the club leaders, Elly-Grace Michael or Annabelle Cooke, about your interests in our club!
- Huskies Character
- Huskies Community
- Huskies Service
- Huskies Wellness