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The university Optimist Club is a college-level chapter of the Optimist International Club. The university club attends various programs and activities that are centered around children in the Evansville community with the goal of improving the lives of children and inspiring leadership while also having fun.

“I have been a part of this club for three years It is such a great organization to get involved in to help kids it just means a lot to me to go out in the community and help,” said Alison Sieg, President of Optimist club.

Optimist club has worked with Arc of Evansville, an organization that has been part of the Evansville community since 1954.  The Arc of Evansville is a non-profit organization that provides opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

“This club has helped me grow and learn a lot more about children and just the needs out there. There are a lot of different programs that I didn’t know about that exist,” the senior psychology major said.

Grant Toomey has been a part of Optimist club for almost a year and is a computer science major.

“We volunteer all the time especially with the dream center, and recently we went to an event the dream center was putting on and it was an auction and all the proceeds were going to a charity and we volunteered with that,” the sophomore computer science major said.

The Dream Center located in Evansville provides meals for children and offers recreational and educational programs. USI Optimist club has worked with this organization by volunteering and helping to plan events.

Sarah Jones said she has been a member of Optimist club for two years and is the social media advisor.

“Optimist club gives kids a greater opportunity to get involved with college students and just learn that there is more to see than what they see every day,” the junior marketing major said.  

Jones said the goal is to help kids.

“We want to make a bigger impact on the community,” Jones said. “And show (the kids) what college is about and give them a new perspective.”