The Society of Women Engineers at UCLA hosted a donation drive for victims of the Los Angeles wildfires Thursday.

Members of the club created donation kits at the event for children affected by fires across LA County, which have burned over 47,000 acres since Jan. 7, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection website. The club also presented on grassroots donation and legislative advocacy topics related to the fires, including tenants’ rights and the role of immigrant workers.

[Related: THE BRUIN’S FULL COVERAGE OF THE LA COUNTY FIRES]

Event attendees created three scientific experiments to include in the children’s donation kits. These experiments taught topics relating to DNA synthesis, dissolution rates and the densities of different liquids using bracelets, hot cocoa and lava lamps, respectively.

Members of the club also presented on fire insurance and loan policies in California, the role of incarcerated firefighters and the dangerous work immigrants do to help clean up the aftermath of the fire.

They included bills others could lobby for such as Assembly Bill 247, introduced Jan. 15, which would increase incarcerated firefighters’ hourly wages to that of the lowest hourly wage of a non-incarcerated firefighter in California.

Participating in the lobbying process directly counters the negative stereotype that engineers are introverted, said Annmarie Jessil, a second-year computer science and engineering student who is part of the Internal Affairs Committee at the SWE.

“I’ve been trying to find ways to help, but I feel like it’s kind of hard,” added Karen Primero, a first-year electrical engineering student who attended the event. “There’s all these places, and also, as a student, it’s hard to access them (when) you’re on campus.”

Samprikta Basu, the lobbying director at the SWE, said she was inspired to host the event because of how many volunteering organizations she saw online. While the state has provided money to fight fires, Basu said she thinks the most effective way of receiving individual support during the wildfires is through local grassroots responses.

Basu, a fourth-year computer science and engineering student, said she also believes policy can often feel inaccessible because of technical jargon. She added that she hopes engineers see their technical background as an advantage rather than a detriment when advocating for policies on topics they have expertise on.

Regardless of a person’s experience level, it is never too late to become involved with legislative action, Basu said.

“It’s so important that it feels like there’s not really a barrier there,” Basu said. “No matter who you are, and you’ve never had any experience in this field, now is the time, and it’s always the time and never too late to just get involved and take action.”

First-year electrical engineering student Priya Soneji, who was one of the members who presented, said she believes that when women feel intimidated in pursuing action, they should remember that they deserve a seat at the table.

“Your gender matters, but in the broad part of things, you’re still a person. You’re a human being,” Soneji said. “You deserve to be in a spot … just as much as any other person.”