Martinez leaves her mark on Fordham through the Circle K club. (Courtesy of Mary Hawthorn for The Fordham Ram)

Cambria Martinez, FCRH ’24, has fostered her passion for philanthropy as President of Fordham Circle K, the university’s chapter of Circle K International, “one of the world’s largest student-led collegiate service organizations, with thousands of members on hundreds of campuses across the globe.” Martinez is from San Diego with a major in communication and culture and minors in environmental studies and Latino American and Latino studies. Over the course of her four years at Rose Hill, she has made it her mission to make a meaningful impact in the Bronx community and has certainly been successful. 

Philanthropy has always been a pillar of Martinez’s character. In high school, she and her best friends founded Foster Friends, a club that partnered with organizations that support families and children in the foster care system. When reflecting back on that experience, Martinez shared, “I felt a connection to the community that I had previously never experienced, and I met people with vastly different life experiences. Service work can be sombering, there is joy in seeing people unite and care about one another.” 

Martinez was eager to get involved with service when she came to Fordham, but unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions hindered in-person community engagement. “When I got to Fordham, I knew I wanted to join a service club and connect in a similar way to the Bronx. Because it was 2020, my friend and I hopped on a virtual club fair site and found Circle K. We attended Zoom meetings and by sophomore year we were doing service… Since then, we have continued to rebuild the club to what it is today.”

Despite some challenges at the beginning of her philanthropic journey at Fordham, Martinez is leading one of the most popular and impactful clubs on campus. Her dedication to the betterment of the community shines through at each meeting rooted in the Jesuit ideology of “men and women for others.” Martinez works closely with the incredible Circle K Executive Board composed of Vice President Julia Rabbia, GSB ’24, as well as Secretary Jillian Beliveau, GSB ’24, Treasurer Corri Villany, GSB ’24, and Social Media Manager Caley Knox, FCRH ’24. A major part of Circle K is the warm and welcoming community. “It is a super uplifting environment because the other members are all there to make a difference. At meetings, we always have a service activity and students come to meetings after a long day of classes and are all happy to help the community,” said Martinez. Additionally, Circle K receives advice and unconditional support from their parent organization, Fordham Kiwanis. 

Circle K has hosted many enriching service events for the community. Some of these include the Diaper Drive for Part of The Solution, Circle Cards for the Jesuits in Murray-Weigel Hall, building gardening beds at Mapes Avenue Garden and the Socks of Love toiletry drive, just to name a few. Although all of these events were absolutely wonderful and impactful, Martinez shared her favorite Circle K tradition: “We always love doing Project Linus, which is when we make blankets for hospitalized children. The turn out is always fun and it’s so satisfying to see the stack of adorable blankets that we always finish with.” 

As graduation approaches, Martinez has laid the framework for the club in the years to come. “My main goal was to continue the momentum we picked up last year in gaining new members and transferring the club into capable hands,” she said. Martinez’s initiative was to implement a Kiwanis Junior Board, where current members could shadow and learn from the current board. Members had the opportunity to apply in December and were informed of their results before the semester began. As the current Junior President, I am so excited to fill this role and am so thankful for Martinez’s leadership and mentorship. 

When asked about next year, Martinez commented, “I hope Circle K continues to grow and service participation increases. I’m optimistic; Circle K is in good hands thanks to our Junior Board and Kiwanis advisors.” If interested in joining Circle K, students can email [email protected] or follow @circlekrams on their club Instagram.