The Gender and Sexuality Awareness (GSA) club is hosting a bake sale April 24 and 25 to benefit the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which is the largest supplier of health, housing and educational services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the world.
Club members will deliver baked goods to students’ doorsteps , which consist of brownies, rice crispy treats, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, banana bread slices and Earl Grey sugar cookies. Those who make purchases will be charged $3 per item through their school Didax accounts.
Club Leader Felicity Phelan ’21 said they engineered the plan in which GSA members volunteered to bake items for the fundraisers and separate groups of volunteers transport the goods.
“Once the [Google] form closes on the 20th, we’re going to let volunteers know how many of their items they’ll be making,” Phelan said. “Then other GSA members will drive to the bakers’ houses to pick up the goods.”
Although the club hosted similar events in the past, GSA members made changes to the format of the bake sale due to challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic.
Phelan also said COVID-19 presented challenges in terms of how transactions were completed.
“In pre-pandemic years, we did a similar idea (GSA members volunteering to bake and bring items in), but we sold them at a table on the Quad,” Phelan said.
Club member Ofek Levy ’23 concurred but said he has still been able to cultivate positive change through the club during quarantine.
“Despite the fact that the pandemic has made it more difficult to play an active role in our school community, GSA is still providing opportunities for student involvement,” Levy said.
Students said the event allowed them to engage with the larger LGBTQ+ community.
Levy said the bake sale also gave him an opportunity to branch out into the broader Los Angeles area rather than only serve students.
“A central part of GSA is not just supporting LGBTQ+ people at our school but also supporting those in the greater community,” Levy said. “It is gratifying to know that we are contributing to an organization that is helping tackle relevant issues.”
Raisa Effress ’23 said she was impressed by GSA’s initiative in planning the fundraiser and feels it is symbolic of the school community’s benevolence.
“It’s so important to support the basic needs of every member of our community, especially during times like these,” Effress said. “The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a wonderful place to focus on helping, and events like the GSA bake sale remind us of what it means to be a Harvard-Westlake student and to live with purpose beyond ourselves.”
