Story by Leo Norton

Beta Club is a national honors and services club that was introduced four years ago by guidance counselor and club sponsor, Kathy Toner. The club brought Yuda Bands to Westside only a short time ago to help fund education and create jobs.

“[The bands] haven’t been around that long,” Toner said. “We started them two years ago and we [had] really good success, so we decided we would do it again.”

The Yuda Bands are sold all across the nation in schools to help send teenagers in developing countries to high school.

“Yuda Bands is a project for underprivileged kids in Guatemala and Zimbabwe,” Toner said. “What you do is you actually pick one student you want to sponsor because the poverty rates are so high there and because they have to pay for high school education, it’s not free. A lot of people cannot go to school there.”

Westside Beta Club chose a student from Zimbabwe this year.

“We picked a young lady named Estrey and we are sponsoring her,” Toner said. “100 percent of the proceeds we make from the Yuda Bands goes directly to pay for her education.”

Beta Club had a chance to video call Estery Mkamui late last week. She talked about how she wants to use her newly-funded education later in life.

“We did a Skype last Friday which was amazing,” Toner said. “We got to talk to her and find out about her. She’s 17 and she wants to be a nurse so she can give back to others, especially kids. She was so appreciative and thanked us over and over again for selling the bands for her.”

Beta Club’s goal is to sell all the Yuda Bands that they have so that they can ensure their sponsored student gets the rest of her high school education paid for.

“Our goal would be to sell 400,” Toner said. “We just got started and we have sold about 50 right now. We have another week of sales so we’re hoping they pick up.”

With only a few more days to help change her life in another country, Toner has some words of advice to students at Westside.

“I would encourage people to buy them,” Toner said. “This goes towards a really good cause. It goes towards an education of someone underprivileged in another country. I would encourage students to participate.”

Yuda Bands are on sale during lunch mods till the end of the week for $7.