A new organization––namely, an initiative––has been created this year at Garneau and has already expanded to other schools. It is a club in which students meet weekly in the library to brainstorm, plan, and execute several fundraising and awareness-raising events throughout the year. It was created with the purpose of helping find the cure for widespread neurological diseases. It is the Initiative for Neuroscience and Dementia, or I.N.D.
The organization was founded by Zameer Bharwani––a grade 10 student at our school who has been passionate about neuroscience ever since he had a mentorship with a doctor in middle school. He studied the nervous system, and particularly neurological diseases with this doctor, and afterwards became familiar with many people who had relatives with such diseases. He decided this year to become more active and support research towards the cures for these diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS.
I.N.D. provides support services for other organizations pursuing research towards cures to these diseases. To date, it has raised $600, all of which has gone to Sick Kids Hospital’s Neuroscience and Mental Health Department. A final fundraiser for the year is in the works, and could possibly include popsicles and frozen yogurt. The board limits the amount of days in which unhealthy foods can be sold in the school, so look around for us in the galleria on the next unhealthy food day!
