Welcome Aboard

Dear Future Threads of Care Club President,

Welcome to the TOC family! We’re so excited to have you! Being selected to lead a local chapter is a tremendous honor and also a huge responsibility. Throughout my first year as the president of the Franklin High School TOC club, I’ve learned a lot. I hope that by sharing my experience with you, you can have the greatest TOC year yet!

To start off, you’ll need a club (obviously). If you’re lucky, you’ll already have one and won’t need to go through the process of creating one. However, if you don’t have a club at your school and you are starting one, bravo! If you are going to be the founder of the club, I suggest you start the process right away, as it can take some time to get through all the paperwork. In Franklin High School, you need to write a letter to the principal explaining what club you want to start, what you would do, why you want to start it, the expected number of people who would be a part of it, and when and where you would meet. When you hold your meetings is very important. It usually cannot be during the school day, as only Honors Society Clubs are allowed to meet then. You also want to keep in mind the type of people who will be in your club. For me, it was a lot of cross country runners. In this case I made the meetings on Thursdays since it was our easiest day and it was the one the cross country runners could afford to be a little late to. Be sure to talk to the coaches so they know what’s up! You also need to keep in mind the other clubs that meet. If a super popular club meets on Wednesdays, don’t have your meetings on Wednesdays. Also, be sure to consult with your club sponsor to see when they can stay after school to supervise the meetings. I asked my English teacher to be the FHS TOC club sponsor because she seemed really into the idea of holding clothing drives to help the homeless. The teacher sponsor fills out a lot of paperwork and needs to be organized, so choose wisely!

After you submit your letter, it will get read by the principal and he or she will sign off on it, and BAM, you’ve got yourself a Threads of Care chapter! Congratulations! Now you need to recruit as many committed team members as possible. Spread the word via posters, announcements, school news casts, word of mouth, social media, whatever! Just make sure people know that Threads of Care is an incredible movement they should join! I highly recommend having food for your first few meetings. Even if people just show up for the food, they hear the message of TOC and will maybe even be persuaded to join! During your first meeting add everyone to a GroupMe, so you can make announcements about when meetings are, what you are doing that week and more. Communication is key!

You will also need a vice president and secretary, treasurer and any other positions you think you’ll need. Be sure to choose these people wisely, or hold an election. These people will be helping you organize the clothing drives and bake sales and other TOC related things.

I would also suggest ordering TOC shirts! You can design them yourselves, or copy ones from other clubs, or past years. The shirts are super fun to wear when you’re holding a clothing drive or bake sale. They also are great for raising awareness!