On Nov. 18, Aragon Associated Student Body hosted the school’s first annual club food fair since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many clubs gathered around Center Court to sell food to fundraise for their club.
“We wanted to bring it back because now there’s less COVID restrictions,” said junior and ASB treasurer Rachel Ma. “There’s been popular requests from clubs because they would like opportunities to fundraise.”
Now that COVID restrictions have loosened, Aragon has been able to bring back more events and opportunities to the students who were not present in the past.
“I only had one my freshman year, and I’m really excited because I actually got to plan that and be a part of that process”
“I’m just excited to plan everything and sell it together because for many of my officers, they’re juniors or sophomores and they’ve never had a food fair,” said senior Marcela Zaragoza Padilla. “I only had one my freshman year, and I’m really excited because I actually got to plan that and be a part of that process.”
ASB sold tickets for $1 during brunch and lunch, which could be used to purchase the food from clubs at the fair. New opportunities included payment options beyond cash, such as using Apple Pay and credit cards to buy tickets.
“I know a lot of kids don’t carry cash around, but they do have Apple Pay or credit cards,” Ma said. “So that will allow them to participate even if they don’t bring cash.”
“The students get to eat some good food during the school day and clubs get to make money for their accounts”
The clubs not only sold food, but had a chance to fundraise for themselves and connect with their peers.
“I think at the end of the day, students did enjoy it [and] had fun,” Ma said. “All the clubs definitely benefited as well because they made money for their club accounts. So it’s kind of a win-win [situation]. The students get to eat some good food during the school day and clubs get to make money for their accounts.”
This event also helped clubs gain publicity among students.
“I think they definitely benefited by promoting their club with the food they sold,” said freshman Rama Haddad. “I saw our school coming together as a community. The clubs also got to make money, which was nice.”
Clubs like Key Club, Engineering Club and the Black Student Union, along with many other clubs, participated in this event. Each sold a variety of different foods like spam, musubi, cornbread, Krispy Kreme donuts, many of which sold out quickly.
“We would also have to come up with a better system for [tickets] because I know a lot of people didn’t get tickets”
“The food was good, [but] it sold out really fast,” Haddad said. “I did enjoy the variety of foods … It was a nice way to see what each club had to offer for students.”
After this year’s food fair, ASB took note of many things they may change in the future. These include trash cleanup and more organized payment systems.
Trash was left across campus after the event, leaving custodians to pick up student messes. ASB has plans to bring out more trash cans during big events like this, and spread more awareness about the importance of good trash habits.
“We would also have to come up with a better system for [tickets] because I know a lot of people didn’t get tickets, and we want everyone to be able to enjoy [the] food,” Ma said.
ASB hopes to host a second food fair in the spring.
