Townsend Harris offers a variety of clubs to the students but one club that has grabbed the interest of some students is called “No Buddy Left Behind.”

Sacrificing their lunch band once a week, students volunteer to go up to room 412 to interact with kids from P.S. 255, a school within the building that teaches students with autism.

The president of the club, Cleopatra Elsheikh, says “No Buddy Left Behind is a unique club because it joins two different schools. This club helps raise awareness for people with disabilities and shows that they are no different than the kids at Townsend. It gives me such joy to see their faces light up when I say hi to them in the hall. When you join this club, you are joining another family.”

Cleopatra’s sister, Nefertari Elshiekh, also loves helping and giving back to the community. She says “It would make my whole day. As soon as I walked in the door, they were eager to greet me, from shaking my hand to asking how my weekend was. Honestly, these kids are some of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever met. They don’t need a 100 on a test to make them happy, and that inspired me. They teach me to get joy from the little things, and to think so much about everything, just enjoy it. I joined this club again because I can call these kids my friends.”

Sophomore Daniel Singh who loves helping people describes it as, “one of the best decisions I have ever made.”  He also states, “I feel great about the club and it really represents how much the kids at Townsend care about others and want to contribute to our community. Thinking about others and including these kids in our family at Townsend Harris really goes to show what kind of kids are at Townsend.”

The student volunteers love what they are doing, even though they are sacrificing their lunch band. It is a great way to help the community from students of a great school. “Getting high grades are good,” says sophomore Pooja Suganthan, “but helping out these students really makes my day brighter.”