Baked goods are often deemed guilty pleasures consumed to fulfill a sweet tooth, but Culture Club members have proved that cookies and cupcakes can help combat major issues worldwide.

On Saturday Nov. 14, Culture Club members held a bake sale on Lakeshore Ave. in Oakland to raise money for Medical Teams International, an organization that donates medical kits allocated for Syrian refugees in light of the Syrian civil war.

Culture Club was formed this year as an outlet to spread diversity and inspire student involvement.

“We wanted this club to not only expand people’s cultural horizons outside of Piedmont, but to actually maybe help some of these people [in the world],” said Culture Club President junior Emily Rexrode.

To cover the most ground as possible, Culture Club chooses a new region each month to discuss during their Wednesday lunch meetings in Janine Sohn’s room. Each meeting features a specific issue of the current region and a different means of discussion.

“There was one day where we printed out a bunch of stories from Humans of New York that were on individual Syrian families that were in different parts of Europe at the time,” said Culture Club Co-President junior Halley Wolin. “We talked about our personal reactions.”

In addition to personal anecdotes from Syrians, Culture Club has also discussed the politics and tensions of the Syrian Civil War. However, whatever the topic be, Culture Club is able to have insightful discussion, Wolin said.

“Regardless of what we are talking about, most people are really passionate about what we talk about,” Wolin said. “We are able to have really good discussions and insight into what is going on.”

As a result of these discussions, Culture Club members were inspired to get involved.

Rexrode said that after talking about it in Culture Club, they got together and decided to buy ingredients and bake what they would then sell the next day on Lakeshore Ave.

Because of the bake sales date that directly followed the Paris Attacks that occurred on Friday Nov. 13, customers were generous and willing to donate.

“We raised around 185 dollars,” Wolin said. “We had a box for donations if people didn’t want to buy anything and a bunch of people walked by and put money in that. We also had some packets that had information about the organization that we were donating to called Medical Teams International.”

With 185 dollars, Medical Teams International can provide approximately two surgical kits for children, according to Medical Teams International’s website.

“It was really fulfilling because they focus a lot on medical care for children,” Rexrode said. “We also had a lot fun doing it.”

The Paris Attacks and Syrian Civil War has sparked Culture Clubs fervor and dedication towards spreading awareness about issues that don’t always get the needed attention.

“There was recently a hostage crisis in Mali that no one talks about and in Paris there’s this awful atrocity that gets a Facebook filter,” Rexrode said. “I think that’s what I hope for Culture Club in the future, to address issues that people don’t address because the people involved aren’t our western allies.”