Segerson, Malik team with Youth Council to donate laptops to impoverished seniors

Compassion: Junior Devan Malik (left), senior Katie Segerson (right) and eight other students at The Giving Spirit’s Youth Council worked with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to donate laptops to unhoused graduating students. For Malik, working with The Giving Spirit has been a positive experience that he wants to continue in the future, according to Malik. Photos by Seth I. Pickens/ La Vista

By Seth Pickens

Features Editor

From April 23-May 3, Costa junior Devan Malik, senior Katie Segerson and eight other high schoolers raised funds to help support graduating Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) students.

Pass it forward: Malik and the other students at the Youth Council work with LAUSD to donate laptops to unhoused students. For Malik, working with THe Giving Spirit has been a positive experience he wants to continue in the future.

Malik and Segerson are both a part of The Giving Spirit’s Youth Council, a non-profit organization that supports the homeless and often participates in projects in collaboration with the organization. For their most recent project, they provided unhoused and impoverished high school seniors with laptops to aid them in their transition into college.

“We raised funds through numerous different methods,” Segerson said. “We set up a GoFundme initially and advertised it online and with posters. Additionally, we had members raising funds through bake sales, school fundraisers, working with restaurants, etc. We were subsequently in contact with Lenovo, who generously donated laptops.”

Devan Malik fundraising to donate laptops to unhoused LAUSD students.

The Youth Council was initially reached out to by LAUSD in order to assist them in providing the laptops for their graduating classes. According to Malik, he and the other members of the council felt personally connected to the issue and were eager to be of service.

“We were contacted by LAUSD about the computer initiative and jumped at the opportunity,” Malik said. “The council was passionate about helping homeless youth, and we felt a connection to those who were our age but living different lives.”

The poster made by Devan Malik to help promote the Youth Council’s fundraiser.

The Youth Council worked together to create a cohesive plan on the logistics of raising funds and collecting donations for the project. In addition to that, Malik helped spread awareness for the project online and in person.

“I helped plan the initiative and focus of the event and worked with the rest of the council to decide how we would collect donations,” Malik said. “During the event, I created and posted flyers, in addition to getting the word out through MB News to spread awareness.”

Katie Segerson, who led the Youth Council during the fundraiser and partnered with Lenovo to help donate laptops

Segerson and Malik have both been participating in The Giving Spirit’s drives for multiple years. According to Segerson, she joined the council because she saw the impact they had on the community.

“I got involved with The Giving Spirit at one of their packing events in seventh grade,” Segerson said. “After that, I went to an outreach event, and once I saw, firsthand, the impact they make as an organization, I became committed to helping as much as possible.”

A homeless man holding a gift card given to him by the Giving Spirit.

Even with her impending graduation, Segerson still intends to be active with the Youth Council. According to her, she wants to support The Giving Spirit and its mission while she is in college.

“I will be attending Northwestern next year, studying political science on the pre-law track,” Segerson said. “[Even though] I’m graduating and leaving the council, I do not plan on stopping my work with them.”