On Friday Jan. 13, the National Honors Society (NHS) ended its week-long sock drive. Members put up boxes for donations of new socks located in the library and front office. NHS partnered with Upward Bound House, an organization dedicated to eliminating homelessness in Los Angeles. As of 2022, the homeless population in LA County is 69,144 people–a  number that motivated NHS to kickstart this drive, led by senior Olivia Maehara. 

“Socks are one of the most requested items in homeless shelters. Keeping your feet warm and dry is difficult when you spend your days outside, especially with the rainy weather,” said the NHS Instagram informational post. 

Located in Santa Monica, Upward Bound House is an organization that strives to reduce the number of homeless families by providing basic needs and resources, helping them get on their feet. 

“We really liked their message advocating for homeless families in Los Angeles. A lot of organizations just collect, but [Upward House] was [actually] advocating for those families to have a better situation and actively trying to push or change,” said Maehara. 

The National Honors Society is a group that recognizes high schoolers that meet high academic standards and opens the doors to prepare for college, earn chances at scholarships and gain a sense of leadership around their community. It operates through all 50 states of America, with chapters in local high schools. 

  “We have general meetings once a month in Mr. Barclay’s room, we [host] card-making workshops and optional meetings, [which] we post on Google Classroom and Remind. We’ve only been here on campus for two years. But I will definitely say this year, we’ve made more of an impact.” said Maehara.   

As president, Maehara organizes meetings and finds volunteer opportunities so that her peers can complete their semester requirement for community service. This was just one of the charity events that the NHS has hosted, like their candy drive, where they collected 150 pounds of candy for deployed soldiers during the Halloween season. With a group total of over 1500 collective service hours, they hope to “match or surpass” that goal in the second semester. 

“I just think that involving and integrating students in their community and helping them find what they’re passionate about within community service is really valuable, not only for the student but also the community,” said Maehara.