DECA, a club based in marketing and entrepreneurship, picked a new organization to sponsor this year and decided to connect with the Arizona Humane Society. It is a non-profit organization that helps pets in need, acting as an animal hospital and shelter. While the Arizona Humane Society is new for DECA this year, it is always an option to work with the same organization again. However, the club chose to work with the Arizona Humane Society because the President of DECA, senior Taylor Relvas, had connections with the organization. 

One member from the board of directors, Andrea Marconi, came to speak with DECA, detailing how the organization works and her experience. DECA’s treasurer junior/senior Lawrence Santiago further elaborated, “All of her pictures [in her presentation] had a story because they were all animals that had gone through their program.” Marconi also mentioned the rescue process among other topics.

Although DECA is not entirely sure how they are going to work with the organization this year, Relvas has shared what DECA usually does each year when they sponsor organizations. Relvas explained, “We take a percentage of what the puma den makes as well as other fundraising money that we get through various fundraisers throughout the year, and then we [DECA] just donate a percentage of that to them at the end of the year.”

Additionally, Relvas noted, “I feel like we could always do material drives, because they are always low on stuff like food. I feel like we could spread that to the entire school as a whole.” Therefore, extending their support for the Arizona Humane Society could be another possibility for the club. 

Thus, the overall goal is to raise funds for the organization. DECA’s treasurer junior Lawrence Santiago detailed, “I am in charge of finances and so, one of my main focuses for this year is to do funding for them.” On top of those goals, volunteer opportunities have been organized for members that want to further help the organization along with other potential ideas.