FOR A GOOD CAUSE

NEWPORT BEACH — It took Katherine Lang about eight months to rub elbows with the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and the Newport Beach Police Department.

In March, the Corona del Mar High School sophomore started her own club on campus, Cinderellas for Life, to gather prom dresses for low-income girls. The club, affiliated with the Fountain Valley-based nonprofit Working Wardrobes, had a small but successful dress drive on campus in April. Since then, it’s grown consistently, as more than three dozen girls have banded together to help their less-fortunate peers.

When Katherine set up a table on the Corona del Mar quad on Tuesday, then, she looked like a veteran of public service.

“We’ve come so far,” said the 15-year-old Newport Beach resident. “We had five girls helping us last year.”

Cinderellas for Life was one of more than two dozen charities setting up tables outside during lunchtime at Corona del Mar. With signs around campus describing the horrors of landmines — the remnants of a presentation that morning by activist Ken Rutherford — volunteers offered pamphlets reminding students of how they could help work for peace.

Rutherford’s speech and the service learning fair combined to form Corona del Mar’s seventh annual Community Service Learning Day. According to Denise Weiland, the campus’ community service coordinator, many of the nonprofits had worked on recent projects with the school. Serving People in Need had conducted a food drive at Corona del Mar High, and the American Red Cross had sponsored a blood drive.

“I love to do it big,” Weiland said as a crowd packed the quad. “The kids enjoy having all these people come out.”

While a number of adult volunteers manned the tables, a number of students also helped to distribute materials. Junior Andrew Gordon, 17, invited passersby to sign up for the Newport Beach Police Department Explorers program, in which young participants undergo training from SWAT officers, ride along with officers and take classes in crime scene investigation. More than a dozen students signed up.

“This is actually our best year,” Andrew said. “We usually just get two or three. This year, it seems like it’s working.”

Orleda Roa, the volunteer coordinator for Girls Inc., presided over a table full of paperwork and a fold-out display of pictures from the center. The nonprofit, with its nearest office in Costa Mesa, sets up a booth at Corona del Mar every year.

“We average probably 10 students that really take it seriously and follow up with e-mails and phone calls,” Roa said. “I see it as a plus if we get 10 additional volunteers.”

At one point, junior Sonia Marcinek, who led a dance class at Girls Inc. two years ago, stopped by and pointed excitedly at the snapshot of one girl.

“I’ve known her since the sixth grade,” she said.