Sydney stood behind the door, waiting.

Hair tied back with a neat bow, she wore a dress made by her mother.

Weeks of preparation have the girls eager with excitement

Beyond the doors, several children sit oblivious to the upcoming surprise.

Handmade Disney princess dresses adorn juniors Sydney Mayo, Kara Hicks, Natalie Ojeda, Paige Inman and Kaylee Olds as they visit the little girls at Faith Refuge for the Grace Church Fall Outreach project.

As the wooden door is pulled open, the little faces brighten with wonder and their jaws drop.

Moments like this urged Mayo and Hicks to start a Craft Club of their own to help those who “don’t have the freedom to make a club,” Mayo said.

“Seeing people struggle through things, especially kids our age and younger, and don’t have the stuff we do, was really eye opening,” she said. “We are trying to get people involved in a way that is easy and fun.”

The club couples as a getaway from the stress at school as well as community services projects, co-founder Hicks said.

“Most the clubs here are education based like Spanish club and biology club, and that’s a good thing, but I think there needs to be more clubs that have a set time after school and not have to think about school,” she said.

Because of the necessary mental break after school, the club benefits the community while “the other half of it is to just have fun,” she said.

While the club is underway, students have already taken interest in joining.

“[Junior] year has been pretty stressful so far, so I figured it would be something fun to do,” junior Paige Inman said. “I thought it would be something that was kind of relaxing but also semi school related.”

Projects the club will do will pertain to theme weeks where the club would collectively participate in a craft.

“We’ll do bracelets one week, or painting, and then we can make shirts,” Hicks said. “The threads for bracelets are pretty inexpensive, and I have a whole bucket at home, and we could take turns bringing stuff for each week.”

Mayo says each project wouldn’t be difficult, but not insanely easy.

“They’re not going to be like children’s crafts like making a sun, that’s ridiculous,” she said. “Crafts don’t have to be expensive; you can make crafts out of anything, DIY things.”

The club will be open to all grades and won’t have many requirements.

“I don’t think we will make it ‘official’,” Hicks said. “We won’t take attendance and I don’t care for it to be in the yearbook, or for colleges to recognize it, it’s more just like a fun thing that doesn’t need to be serious. If you don’t feel like making a shirt or whatever, you can come and just talk with us.”

And because of the relax feel to the club, Mayo said she feels the people will want to join.

“I think it will introduce them to all the other fun things at Rider outside of the normal school day,” Mayo said. “It’s a nice way to have fun, but instead of doing something just for yourself, you are doing something for everyone around you.”