by Josue Sanchez, co-Editor-in-Chief

St. John Bosco High School students Martin and Oliver Shiekh are hosting a volleyball tournament this weekend in order to raise money to help those affected by the rampage of Hurricane Helene in late September.

The event, called the “Hit Hard And Rally 4 Relief,” has given an example of the generous and altruistic activities carried out by Bosco students—both inside and outside the campus.

The initial idea for the event started shortly after the category four hurricane slammed into the Big Bend region in Northern Florida on September 26th. After making landfall, the storm moved north, flooding entire parts of the southern United States including Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

One of the people affected by the hurricane was Ms. Lori Vinskus, a Social Science and Latin instructor in Bosco’s online program, SJB Global. She resides in North Carolina, which was severely impacted by the flooding from the hurricane. Upon seeing this happen, Martin and Oliver decided to begin this project to help all those in need.

Teaming up with the Global Empowerment Mission (GEM), a non-profit organization based in Florida, the two will be sending all the funds to the GEM Hurricane Helene relief project.

In some way, they already had some experience with these types of events, having previously made one for the series of fires in the state of Hawaii in 2023.

“We’ve done similar tournaments for fire damage in Maui,” said Martin. “So, we decided to jump into action [this time around] with a tournament-style fundraiser.”

This tournament, however, will be different from the one held earlier. At this event, Martin and Oliver plan to increase engagement and participation among the Bosco youth by holding more than just a simple volleyball tournament.

Members from local high schools like Bosco and St. Joseph’s are involved in this event, as well as various volleyball clubs. These include the Pulse Volleyball Club, based in Anaheim.

Aside from the volleyball events themselves, the two highlight the other events that will occur, including events featuring AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) professionals and, of course, food.

Many external companies are also involved in the effort, including the company Slunks, known for its production of volleyball shorts and gear, and Shiekh, a reputable shoe store. Both companies are planning to give away select merchandise at the event.

The two were able to secure these sponsors and connections by simply asking around in the local community, as well as in some volleyball clubs.

“It’s just asking a lot of questions, basically,” said Martin.

They asked a large number of people, including reputable leaders at Bosco, in order to make this event more well-known and increase their outreach.

They believe it is possible for anyone to make these types of fundraiser events and that it’s a matter of getting all the work done while establishing connections with people in local communities.

“People want to help you, so just don’t be afraid to ask,” said Martin.

“Have a plan before you go into anything,” Oliver added. “Map everything out and try to get a list of all the steps you need to do to create an effective fundraiser.”

The event is open to anyone—students, adults and more—with no required level of experience in the sport. The two are hoping for an increase in turnout in order to achieve their $5,000 goal.

“It’s often easy to get people to say ‘yes,’” said Martin. “But, it’s a different thing to actually get them to come to the event.”

The event will be held this weekend on Sunday, November 10th at the Long Beach City College Sand Courts, south of Bosco in north Long Beach. Events will last from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and will include a variety of other activities and giveaways to those in attendance.