Never-ending Optimism

by Laura Breen-Galante

“To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.”

That line, from the Optimist Creed, written by Christian D. Larson, is the rallying cry of Optimist International, a global service club that aims to give back. The 111-year-old philanthropic organization includes a youth division called Junior Optimist International (JOI), and the worldwide group is currently led by our own local teen Maya Gluck.

The 2022 Lyman High School grad says JOI is “a community service organization, with kids helping kids, and helping the community.” Known as a “friend to youth,” Optimist International features more than 2,500 local clubs around the globe where members are known for working for and with youth – in partnership with JOI – to make the future brighter. Its goal is to bring out the best in children, provide members with an improved sense of kindness, increase awareness of those in need, and encourage cultural diversity.

The first Optimist Club was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1911. Thirteen years later, the organization added the Junior Optimist Club. Today, there are JOI chapters in more than 30 countries. 

Through the years, Optimist International has taken on such service projects as delivering chocolate bars to children during World War II, launching an anti-pornography campaign, creating Bike Safety Week during the 1950s, instituting the Help Them Hear program to assist hearing-impaired youth and adults, and creating the International Junior Golf Championships.

In 2001, the Optimists introduced the Childhood Cancer Campaign and pledged to support President George W. Bush’s goal to mentor one million children.

Maya joined her local JOI chapter in sixth grade at Milwee Middle School and served on JOI’s international board of directors while in high school. She is currently serving a two-year term as international president. While at Lyman, Maya helped coordinate Sunshine Dances for teens with special needs, park and school clean-up events, and support programs for kids in foster care.

“We assembled bags and packages for those in the foster-care system,” explains Maya, 19.

Her chapter also organized annual Thanksgiving food drives. Whatever the cause, Maya enjoys giving back with a positive heart.

“It gives me the opportunity to express myself, and it means a lot to me in the way that I can spread my optimism in helping the community,” she says.

Her favorite project to date involved making cards and bracelets for Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee.

“It’s an ongoing project,” Maya says.

Leading on the International Stage

During the last week of June, Optimist International hosted its 104th global conference in Reno, Nevada. Maya presided over the conference’s Junior Optimist workshops, which focused on building teamwork and leadership skills and sharing ideas for future community service projects. More than 50 junior members attended. 

Each year, the conference’s JOI members select a project or two to complete during the convention. This summer, members made blankets and collected and organized toiletries for Safe Embrace, a nonprofit organization that operates the largest safe house in Nevada’s Reno-Sparks area to support victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

All JOI presidents are encouraged to leave a Presidential Legacy by creating a project or initiative that will continue to impact others long after their own presidential tenure is over. To create her Presidential Legacy, Maya wrote a children’s book called Zoe the Zowie. The book teaches kids about optimism and the importance of helping their community.

“The goal is to put it in libraries and elementary schools, or just pass it along to teach others about community service,” Maya explains. “Every president creates a theme for their year, and I chose healing the world with optimism. We want to do our part to help the world.”

Maya is now in Tampa to attend the University of South Florida, and there’s every reason to believe she will continue to use her positive outlook to spread even more optimism around the world.