Children First Club
Who We Are
The Children First Club (CFC) serves children and youth by generating awareness through fundraisers, volunteer work, and on campus documentary screenings. The CFC provides a forum for discussion on important past, present and future issues concerning children and youth, and allows access to the Children and Youth Studies office and Children's Studies Center (1304 James Hall), where they can obtain a collection of useful print and electronic research materials.
Get Involved! Join the Children First Club
Interested in advocating for the rights of children and youth? We've got just the platform for you! The Children First Club, established by dedicated students and the Children's Studies Center at Brooklyn College, is currently searching for new members!
- Join today on Bulldog Connection, look for the Children First Club and send your request!
- Follow us on Instagram!
- E-mail us for more information to join and be a part of our events throughout the semester!
The underlying purpose of the CFC is to convey ideas into action and build a positive outlook for the future of our youth. Dedicated, creative, and compassionate members drive the CFC and its success.
Why Join the CFC?
Besides being able to add this invaluable experience to your résumé, the CFC provides students with the personal fulfillment and pride that comes along with making a real impact on children and youth's lives. Members are exposed to potential careers in the area of children and youth, seek counsel from professionals, and gain leadership skills and valuable knowledge toward improving the lives of children and youth.
What We've Been Doing
Here are some examples of the kinds of events the Children First Club has worked on:
- The Million Fathers Club Annual Christmas Party and Toy GiveAway was held, with the Children First Club again donating the toys collected throughout the month of December.
- The CFC sold candy and donated the proceeds to victims of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast on October 28, 2012.
- The club attended the Welcome Back Bash to encourage more students to become members.
- The club organized a toiletry drive for homeless youth in New York. Donations were delivered to the youth through the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.
- The club held a fundraising fashion show called Fashion.Addiction.Extravaganza! The CFC raised money for homeless youth in New York and disadvantaged girls and women in Africa.
- The Children First Club collected toys at Brooklyn College for the Million Fathers Club Annual Christmas Party and Toy GiveAway.
- The club released the first issue of the Children First Club Newsletter (pdf).
- The club hosted a Movie-Lunch & Discussion event with the organization GEMS (Girls Educational & Mentoring Services). The club, along with GEMS board member and Children and Youth Studies faculty member Ellen Fried, showed the documentary Very Young Girls to promote awareness about GEMS and the comprehensive services it provides to commercially and sexually exploited girls and young women in New York City.
- The CFC supported the "Parents and Parents' Friends" club's event, Imagination Day: Children's Rights Awareness. Club members provided information about children's rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- The club held a bake sale at Brooklyn College to raise money for Les Petits Okapis International, an organization that raises money for street children in Congo.
- The club participated in the Welcome Back Bash on the Brooklyn College campus. Loretta Chin wrote an article for the student newspaper The Excelsior, titled "Making Children First at the Welcome Back Bash and Club Fair" (pdf).
- The club held a Dance-a-Thon in the Student Center to raise money for Les Petits Okapis International. Haydee Britton, co-founder of the organization, spoke at the event.
- The club held a bake sale in front of Whitehead Hall to raise money for Les Petits Okapis International, an organization that raises money for street children in Congo.
- The CFC, alongside the Model U.N. Club and student government, held the "Believe That You Can Help" event in the Student Center. The event featured Haydee Britton, one of the founders of Les Petits Okapis International, an organization founded in 2001 to help children living on the street in countries where war and poverty have torn communities apart. Britton also works with the General Assembly Affairs Branch of the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management.
