Northcentral Technical College in Wausau, Wisconsin is home to a new Optimist Club this year. The Breaking Boundaries Optimist Club is made up of foreign exchange students who plan to take the Optimist Club mission with them when they return to their native countries.
Among the members is Luis Navarro from El Salvador. He hopes to start a food pantry and help the homeless through his church. Melvin Rivas hopes to share a positive message against drug abuse when he returns to Honduras. But while they are in the United States, the group will conduct educational events at libraries and community gatherings to talk about their cultures and explain their customs.
According to Romey Wagner, a member of the Noon Optimist Club of Wausau, he encouraged the students to come together as a college Optimist Club with the hope that they would start service groups when they return home. They will follow each other online when they return home to keep up their momentum. They will also be fund raising while in the US so that they have resources to begin their efforts in their native lands.
But what happens to the club when they return home? Part of their mission will be to recruit and inspire new exchange students into thier club so that it remains a cultural aspect of the college.
Photo courtesy of the Breaking Boundaries Optimist Club.