The Oak Park Kiva Club, a new club founded by sophomores Noah Yardeny and Matthew Yerich, focuses on preparing, organizing and advertising fundraisers for the nonprofit Kiva Organization.

“[Kiva Organization is] a nonprofit organization that empowers third-world country entrepreneurs,” club member and sophomore Lucas Ramirez said. “It…helps people in third-world countries who need a little bit of money to get started with a business or just to start making money for their family.”

Kiva Club, which meets on alternate Mondays in i-2, creates space for members to discuss fundraising and donation ideas during meetings.

“When we just started, we were kind of just figuring out ideas for fundraisers,” sophomore and treasurer Bobby Yang said. “The first idea was a bake sale, and it was pretty successful.”

Eventually, club members decided on a video game tournament fundraiser, played on the week of April 20.

Participants played “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” a fighting game for the Nintendo Wii. The top four contestants received cash prizes.

“We chose [“Super Smash Bros. Brawl”] because we know a lot of people liked it,” co-president Yerich said. “It’s competitive, but also fun.”

During the week, 27 students participated in the tournament while many others watched.

Participants and spectators paid a one-time $5 entry fee and could purchase pizza for $2 a slice.

“This is only our second fundraiser event,” Yang said. “This one turned out to be really successful.”

Yerich had predicted the five-day event to raise at least $100 from both entry fees and pizza sales. However, in the first three days, the club generated $135 from participant entry fees alone.

The tournament proved to be a rewarding experience for both players and observers.

“It’s a nice charity event, [and] we can all have some fun,” junior Thomas Qin, a tournament participant, said. “It’s nice to have the stress before AP exams relieved.”

Yardeny expressed hopes to promote Kiva Club through more fundraising activities.

“It gets people to learn more about Kiva Club and hopefully join it,” Yardeny said.

Kiva Club ultimately aims to raise money for a charitable cause while making the process rewarding for members and for participants.

“My favorite part about the club,” Yang said, “[is] being able to do [these events] and be successful.