The Junior Optimist Club (JOI) instills a changemaker mindset among young people by encouraging them to make a difference within Coronado through various community service projects, according to club members and organizers.
“Everything we do is just to help others,” said JOI president Tayah Bubulka, a senior at Coronado High School.
Bubulka said that JOI has regular monthly club meetings on Wednesdays. At these meetings, 75 Coronado High students gather inside a science classroom, enjoy pizza, listen to a brief presentation and work collaboratively on one service-learning project for the remainder of lunchtime.
At the January meeting, the club made homeless kits which included toothpaste, toothbrushes, and soap. These kits were donated to PATH San Diego, an organization that assists folks experiencing homelessness.
Bubulka joined JOI in the middle of her junior year, after moving to Coronado from Hawaii during her sophomore year. She said that for her, serving the community means trying to make a difference, and “volunteering with the Junior Optimist Club has been a way that I can fulfill that.”
Last year, JOI partnered with The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank for a food drive and made an impact for folks across the county living in poverty by providing a total of 883 meals through 1,060 pounds of non-perishable food items.
Adding teens to Optimist
Erin Downey is the Coronado High Junior Optimist Club Advisor.
She is also a member of the Optimist International, Coronado Club. In an interview with The Coronado News, Downey shared how she became involved with Optimist in 2015.
“My first child was getting ready to graduate high school. …. I knew once she left, I’d have a little bit of free time,” she said. “So I asked a friend, ‘Hey, what’s that club that I always see you volunteering with?’ and she said it was the Optimist Club. So I went to a meeting.”
The Optimist Club is geared towards adults in the community, while JOI is intended for teens.
Downey explained that the Optimist Club commits to helping JOI with all its activities and endeavors, as well as other programs for the youth. It also provides a way for adults to get teen-agers involved in public service.
“The premise behind it is supporting the youth of Coronado. The Optimist Club, the adult club, gives money to every high school sport. We give money to the Robotics Club at the high school, to Little League, to all these different entities,” she said.
Through the support JOI receives from the Optimist Club, high school students are making a positive difference, Downey said.
“Everything we do is service to others. … We’ve made cards for the holidays for the senior center. We baked goods during COVID and gave those to the hospital workers that were working overtime. And coming up we have our biggest campaign where we raise money for childhood cancer research,” said Downey.
Downey said the club’s next big event is being involved with the Souper Bowl of Caring 2023, through tacklehunger.org. And it’s tied to Super Bowl Sunday.
“Everybody’s having a good time watching the game with all their food, but we forget that there’s some people that don’t have enough to eat,” she said.
In preparing for the Feb. 12 event, JOI has begun collecting food items by placing bins around the community.
Bulbika said that although they have started to accept donations, the Souper Bowl of Caring primarily is a one-day event. She said the group will divide into sections of Coronado and try to collect “as many food items as we can.”
Tripled in size
The group has grown from 25 to 75 students in the past seven years.
Downey said while JOI aims to implement acts of service to help the community, the members also feel great seeing how their actions make another person’s life better.
She noted that putting together the homeless kits allowed another person to get a bottle of shampoo and “just be so happy that they can take a shower and get clean.”
For JOI’s next club meeting in February, Downey anticipates that the club’s Valentine’s Day cards for the senior center will bring a smile to more people.
“I’m hoping people will see how much fun we’re having and all the friends that are made. It’s such a good group of kids. And some of these kids I really get to know on a personal level,” she said.
Downey said Coronado High students participating in JOI later embark on new chapters of their lives, taking with them a dedication to serve others.
“After Junior Optimist and after I graduate, I want to continue to be involved with my community,” said Balbuka, who plans to study architecture in college.
Graduating JOI members are recognized for their service efforts through a stole at graduation, and they receive club shirts for their work with the Optimist Club.
“Once you join Junior Optimist, you’re a part of the family, and it’s a really great organization to be a part of,” Bulbuka said. “We really do care about each other.”
To learn more about JOI, you can visit their Instagram Page @chsjoiclub.
