Despite students and club members not being able to meet in-person, the Spring 2021 Virtual Club Rush still yielded several new members, according to club presidents.

Club Rush at El Camino College was held virtually on March 1 and with a total of 30 clubs on campus, students are able to join any club that interests them.

President of the Political Science Club, 18-year-old Sarah Sheikh, said the purpose of the club is to educate students about the study of political science, recruit students to the major and provide them with information about career paths.

The club was promoted for Club Rush through social media and the help of political science professors, and ended up recruiting 15 to 20 members.

“Although we’ve been lacking with club events, we plan to revive the club with coming up with new ideas,” Sheikh said. “We hope to have guest speakers such as lawyers, professors and politicians.”

The Political Science Club meets with their members at least once or twice a month through Zoom and through Discord, an online chat tool, to make them available for any questions or ideas.

President of Circle K International, 19-year-old Alexander Caceros and Vice President, 19-year-old Naomi Olpindo, run a service based club that holds community service projects.

The club members build bonds and friendships, school to school relationships and leadership skills through zoom meetings and workshops.

Circle K had the help of ICC and their own Instagram to to help promote their club.

“We make sure to talk about times where we’ve worked with bigger organizations such as the American Lung Association,” Olpindo said. “I feel that students are more inclined to join when they realize that they’ll be a part of something more than just a school club.”

Circle K had roughly 10 to 12 members before Club Rush but would partner with other schools such as Pepperdine University, Los Angeles Harbor College and California State University, Northridge.

After the Club Rush, they gained another 10 to 12 members just from ECC.

Past service projects the club has held include writing letters with words of encouragement to those in hospitals and raising money for organizations such as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Members of the Circle K hope to have more workshops presented to the members, such as the Lung Health and COVID Awareness Workshop, Human Trafficking Workshop and Women History Month Workshop, to inform students on matters happening around them.

Circle K meets bi-weekly with their general members through Zoom and has individual check-ups with members.

The president of the Child Development Club, 36-year-old Karla Haro, said the club was founded on a basis of connecting family and children with a play-based environment. Virtually, the club holds meetings that consist of games such as Kahoot.

“We promoted the club as a community,” Haro said. “We have the intention to create a sense of belonging and acceptance.”

With 15 members last semester, the club gained another 20 after Club Rush.

“Something I’ll like to tell everyone is to let the kids play and enjoy life,” Haro said.

The Child Development Club hopes to have workshops with guest speakers, meetings celebrating diversity and differences, and a monthly “Pandemic Parenting” meeting which will allow parents of ECC to speak about their struggles and achievements during the pandemic.

The Child Development Club meets every Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.