On Dec. 1, Trade4Hope hosted its annual clothing sale in the CEA, run by co-presidents Sophia Hooper, Claire Cella, and Olivia Moskowitz.
This year, the club raised over $1,000, which will be donated to the UCSF Hospital’s Prom. The party is thrown for patients who are unable to attend their regular high school Proms.
The Prom is a continuation of a multi-year project by the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, and will take place on April 15 in the Moffitt Cafe. It is open to all patients and their friends that are between the ages of 14 and 19.
The club donates to a different charity each year. The idea to donate to the UCSF Hospital’s Prom came from a club member who received back surgery last year and attended the Prom. After this suggestion, the club unanimously voted to donate to this cause.
According to Cella, Trade4Hope wanted to donate to a cause that helps teenagers directly.
“As high school students ourselves, we wanted to positively affect the lives of kids our age,” Cella said.
Moskowitz said that the idea of students missing Prom because they are hospitalized also encouraged the club to want to support the cause.
“Prom is such a coming-of-age moment for kids,” Moskowitz said. “At the UCSF prom, makeup and hair artists devote their time to making the patients looking ready for it, and the money we donate is going into helping set up and get it running smoothly.”
Last year the club donated to the San Francisco headquarters of Global Funds for Women, which devotes its time to improving the lives of women in developing countries through finding them jobs, food, and homes.
According to Cella, the clothing sale turned out to be better than expected.
“The sale was super successful,” Cella said. “We had live music and refreshments and it was just a nice shopping atmosphere.”
Moskowitz said that not only did Trade4Hope have a great turnout, but that the fundraiser also exceeded expectations.
“We didn’t think a lot of people would show up because of the rainy weather,” Moskowitz said. “All of our clothes are priced under $10, besides the designer boutique [ranging from $10-30], so raising $1,060 from clothes priced that low was amazing.”
