Revere’s student-led club, Project Love, led an initiative to collect books for children in need as a way to support the Bath community.
Project Love is a student-led organization at Revere that works towards a better community. Not only does the club impact Revere as a whole, but it also impacts people all around the city, country and world. The club’s adviser, Susan Sanders, explained how the club generally functions.
“Students will come in and out of the organization throughout the year, it’s not like other organizations where you have to be there at every single meeting,” Sanders said.
The club works differently than other clubs. Students can join at any time of the year to propose projects, work on the project at hand or simply participate in the club by attending meetings.
“People are welcome to join Project Love any time of the year. It’s not just like at the beginning [of the year]. We realize that you have a lot going on in your life. You’ve got your school, you’ve got other outside activities, you have other clubs here at school; so there’s a lot of competition for your time,” Sanders said.
The club is not only led by the president, as any student can come in at any time and suggest an idea they have.
“[If you] have a project that you just want to come to one meeting and maybe do it for the month, then you’re very welcome to come. We’d love to have you,” Sanders said.
Lucas Timpone, the current president of the club, has led the group for several years. Projects are mostly student-led and require a sincere dedication from the president. Timpone shared some of the projects he has participated in.
“We do collections [and] we do donations to various places around here. Sometimes we do nice things for the students and staff, like once we did nice messages to the teachers and some sticky notes on the lockers for Acts of Kindness Day last year. So, we basically just try to spread kindness, try to spread some love,” Timpone said.
Timpone commented on some of his responsibilities as president.
“I’m really in charge of the meetings, organizing the events [and] recruiting. I’m in charge of the Frosh Fest booth at our Frosh Fest, and I created a big poster and balloons, lights, everything; I wanted it to stand out this year,” Timpone said.
Ethan Leigh, who joined the club at the beginning of the year, spoke on his experience with the amount of people who truly do want to help.
“I didn’t think people would donate that much, but they really did. It was kind of eye-opening to see people do want to help, and that’s good to see. I think [the club] makes a difference, not that it makes a world of a difference. But for all the people who actually gave the blankets or the books, that was a good amount. . . . That’s a big difference in them just doing that,” Leigh said.
Project Love leads many projects each year in hopes of spreading some kindness within the community. Earlier this year, the club collected blankets and other donations to give to a homeless shelter, and they have also done many book drives, all in hopes of spreading some kindness within the community.
“[Recently] we did a book drive for mostly children’s books. And we also offered any medical books to set for Mrs. Sanders to send to Africa, if possible. But I’ve done the children’s book drive in the past, we did one at the end of last year, and that was pretty successful. There’s actually a bin outside Richfield Elementary where you can just donate the books,” Timpone said.
The collected books will go to a Cleveland-based organization that distributes books for children in hopes of sparking an interest in them for literature. Not only does this club have an impact at Revere, but it sows the seeds of love all over the Richfield community.
“This club has a tremendous impact on the community. Because you benefit people who need certain items, you benefit people who just want a smile on your face,” Timpone said.
The project the club did in December, cards for an assisted living home in Richfield, shows the impact the club can have not only at Revere but in other parts of the Bath community.
“In December, we [made] cards for assisted living in Richfield. So we made those and it just puts a smile on people’s faces. It gives items to people who really need them. And it’s honestly really just heartwarming to be part of something, to be organizing something that’s just so impactful and really just so much good for our community,” Timpone said.
The benefits of good deeds are exponential, even though they may sometimes go mostly unnoticed. Leigh comments on why he believes everyone should just try to participate in such activities.
“Doing good things isn’t only rewarding for the community, it’s rewarding for yourself . . . [Doing good things] does help and if you try it once, you might want to do it again,” Leigh said.
The club’s book collection has ended, but Project Love has many new initiatives in store and is always looking for helping hands. Their meetings are held once a month in Ms. Sanders’ room, A222.
