For students at Berkeley High School, humanitarian crises affecting children around the world can often feel distant from everyday life. BHS United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) club seeks to close that gap, providing students with an opportunity to learn about global issues while finding ways to contribute from their own school community.
The club is connected to the broader mission of UNICEF, the United Nations agency dedicated to protecting the rights and well-being of children around the world. UNICEF works in areas including education, health care, nutrition, clean water and emergency relief. At BHS, the club provides a space for students interested in those issues to come together and consider what involvement can look like on a much smaller, local scale.
For club co-president and co-founder Shoshana Brilliant, a BHS sophomore, that mission was what inspired her to establish the club alongside fellow co-founder and co-president Magdalena Toy-Vanya and Julia Stone, both BHS sophomores, last school year. Brilliant explained that UNICEF’s work addresses necessities that students in Berkeley might rarely have to consider, particularly access to clean water and education.
“UNICEF does an abundance of very important work in the world,” Brilliant said, emphasizing the organization’s efforts to provide resources for children facing difficult circumstances, “It’s just something that really interested us, and we wanted to do what we could for it.”
Since its founding in Jan. 2026, the club has worked to translate that interest into fundraising and educational outreach. Most recently, members organized a bake sale to raise money for UNICEF, bringing together students who volunteered..
The club’s next initiative will bring its mission beyond BHS. Members plan to visit Ruth Acty Elementary School to introduce students in three classrooms to UNICEF’s Trick or Treat fundraising program, which encourages children to collect donations while trick or treating.
With 48 donation boxes available, Brilliant said the club wanted to find a meaningful way to distribute them. Introducing the fundraiser to elementary school students offered an opportunity to connect a familiar childhood tradition with a humanitarian cause. “It’s coming from kids, and it’s going to kids,” Brilliant said.
For Toy-Vanya, the initiative reflects the importance of education in the club’s approach to humanitarian work. Although members cannot directly provide the international services UNICEF offers, they can help younger students understand why those services matter.
“The way we can focus on smaller, more local issues is by educating people,” Toy-Vanya said.
The club recently raised $260 through bakesales, an amount Toy-Vanya said could provide approximately 175 packets of food through UNICEF.
For club member and BHS sophomore Arianna Burak, participating in these efforts has changed how she understands her ability to contribute to issues beyond Berkeley.
Through community involvement, BHS UNICEF club is working to make global humanitarian issues more approachable for BHS students. They’re finding ways to turn awareness into action, which begins within their own community.