Typically, students in HOSA, or Health Occupations Students of America, are known for walking around school in scrubs for a nursing practical, toting a teeth mold for dental classes or frantically having their friends quiz them on medical terms. But the group has a charitable side too, evident in their Caps for the Cure fundraiser.

Caps for the Cure, which occurred Oct. 6, was hosted by HOSA at both Columbus East and Columbus North, and allowed students to wear a hat of their choice at school for $1. The fundraiser benefited The Cure Starts Now Foundation to sponsor pediatric brain cancer research, and Monkey in My Chair, which allows children fighting cancer to leave notes for their classmates at school.

Over the day, East was able to raise $422.05 with a combined total of $1,060 between the collective efforts of East and North.

Lauren Meade, HOSA Vice President of Service, noted that the fundraiser was intended to occur in September to coincide with Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, but the group faced issues due to East’s dress code policy, which completely bans hats at school. However, she anticipated the event as a wild success, crediting the chance to break dress code as a draw.

“People who wear hats all of the time and get yelled at, it’s easy to just give us a dollar and wear it the whole day without getting in trouble,” Meade said.

As Vice President of Service, Meade also plans on organizing a HOSA presence at Night of 1000 Jacks around Halloween to raise money for the student organization. The group’s other activities include attending state conventions with the North chapter.