Publish on: Monday, Feb 13

By: Danielle Cook ’17, Staff Writer

Joining a club in college is easy; starting a club from scratch is much harder.

During the spring semester of 2015, psychology senior Desiree Ruiz and junior psychology major Summer Boltz decided to start a club to promote animal welfare by volunteering at the Humane Society of Lebanon County, hosting ZooAmerica speakers and raising money for organizations that care for animals. However, the club Desire to Care, recently renamed Cause for Paws, is not well-known amongst the students on campus.

Boltz, the vice-president of the club, believes the reason is quite simple.

“Advertising,” Boltz said. “Point-blank.”

Ellie McNarama, a sophomore biology student, agrees; she first learned about the club from a sign on the door of the computer room in the Allan W. Mund College Center basement.

“Other clubs I’ve found from word of mouth,” McNarama said. “Unfortunately, that isn’t the case for Cause for Paws.”

McNarama has expressed continuous vocal interest in the club since learning about it, and she is not the only one. When Ruiz and Boltz held an information table for the club at LVC’s activities fair, they received nearly 20 signatures on their email list, and their guest speaker hosts from ZooAmerica drew dozens of interested adults and students alike.

However, regular club meetings only draw about four to six members, most of whom are on the executive board.

This semester, Cause for Paws is now meeting at 3 p.m. every other Sunday, as opposed to Desire to Care’s Thursday evening meetings.

“What we were doing before wasn’t working, so obviously something needed to change,” Boltz said. “We had numerous complaints that either [students] didn’t know what the club was about, or that the time did not work out for them.”

This can hopefully draw in more students who have had night class in the past, like McNarama, or other engagements on weeknights.

As for advertisements, the executive board members are already trying to remedy that error. Flyers have already been hung on bulletin boards and bathroom stalls, encouraging people to come learn about the club’s activities with the Humane Society of Lebanon County and ZooAmerica Group Outreach programs.

The next meeting is on Feb. 19 in the Miller Chapel for any interested students.

“We are making baby steps,” Boltz said, “but hopefully someday Cause for Paws will become an LVC standard.”
dec002@lvc.edu