At Cy Ranch High School, there are dozens of clubs for students to get involved in. Between Drama Club, Creative Writing Club, and countless of others, there are plenty of opportunities for students to express their passions in a hands-on environment. Among the long list of extracurricular activities, there seems to be a pattern in some these organizations—they serve the community.

While there are clubs that may be not as serious, such as the Yu-Gi-Oh Club, other organizations, like the Breakfast Club, Cook For a Cause, Go Green Club, and Protection Against Animal Cruelty (PAAC) Club, are focused on helping others. Now to add to the long list of altruistic organizations is a new club called Project Pura Vida.

Project Pura Vida is a club that was recently started by senior Gabby Shbeir. The project is dedicated to sending resources to the small village of Nicoya in Costa Rica. Shbeir got the idea after traveling there on a mission trip with her church.

“I wanted to continue serving the community [of Nicoya] even when I came back to Houston, instead of just going there and doing work and then coming back and waiting a whole other year to go back to serve,” Shbeir said. “Being involved in this club is a way to continue serving that community throughout the year when I’m not actually there.”

While on her summer mission trip, Shbeir and her youth group served the community by volunteering at the local feeding center, helping repair houses, and most importantly—loving on the people there.

“The most rewarding of mission work is knowing that you are a part of something way bigger than you can even see,” Shbeir said. “I have the honor of being able to serve these people through God because I believe he is using me to do that. It is rewarding to be able to see how I am impacting people at school but also impacting people across the world.”

The club plans to host social events and fundraisers to send money and supplies to the community of Nicoya. Items such as toiletries, school supplies, and other things Americans may see as necessities are not always considered a priority in the small village.

“Since Nicoya doesn’t have a mailing system, it is easier for us to send money there rather than send materialistic things,” Shbeir said. “So the focus our club is to raise money for the feeding center at the church so that the children and their families can have meals. We are also raising money for stoves and ingredients that the church needs and other miscellaneous things.”

Though Shbeir has visited Costa Rica three times, she says she plans to continue going on the mission trip for as long as she can. She even hopes that through Project Pura Vida, she can bring students outside of her youth group on the trip.

“A lot of people in our club have gone on the trip before but we were also able to gather people who just have a heart for serving and who want to help out with our cause and spread awareness about Nicoya,” Shbeir said. “There are already juniors that have taken leadership positions so that when the seniors of the club graduate, they will be able to continue the club and hopefully be able to expand it and continue the vision that God has for it. When I go to college I am definitely going to bring my mission there with me and continue to serve the community from where I decide to go.”

Project Pura Vida meets once a month in Mrs. McCarthy’s room. The next meeting is Friday, Oct. 2, when the club will discuss their plans for the month. During the month of October, the PDQ restaurant, located off the exit of 290 and Spring Cypress, plans to hold a spirit night where 10% of all proceeds will go to the club.

“Big things are going to happen with this club,” Shbeir said. “I hope that we will accomplish things that I didn’t even know were possible at the beginning of this year. I hope to see people grow in the club and in their faith. I want God to reveal something about him through this club and I don’t know what it is but I am excited to find out.”