The senior citizen’s brunch is a semi-annual event that occurs in the high school during the school day with the help of the Revere community.

Lynn Klein and Susan Holvey have organized the senior citizens brunch for the past three years. They took over for former PTSA members Deanne Johnston and Julie Salopek in 2014.

Revere High School principal Phil King described why the school offers to do these brunches every year.

“[The senior citizen’s brunch] is a great connection to the community. We bring the senior citizens in to see the school. They get to see our students and it creates a nice bond between us and the people outside of the building, sort of like a goodwill gesture,” King said.

PTSA committee chairperson Lynn Klein explained how they run the brunch every year.

“Susan Holvey is in charge of mailing flyers to area nursing and assisted living centers. She does this approximately six weeks before the event. I contact the area newspapers and also reach out to our parent volunteers to get helpers and servers and also to secure donations of baked goods and casseroles. The rest is all about volunteers. There are several people willing to donate their time and delicious food for this event. Our volunteers completely take over the kitchen and our kitchen staff helps us get everything ready. It is quite a team effort.  It will be a little stressful waiting to see how many happy faces arrive and then we divide the food accordingly. Sometimes we come close to running out, but we always seem to get everyone fed,” Klein said.

Klein elaborated upon how volunteers help make each brunch run as smoothly as possible.

“Our Revere high school principal, Mr. Phil King, is a partner as well. He, and the entire office and kitchen staff, come together to assist with this event. Saint Victor Church, located across the street from the high school, opens its parking lot to our senior students so that the school parking lot will be cleared for the senior citizens to park close to the cafeteria,” Klein said.

Student council member and Revere senior Courtney McClellan mentioned what volunteering for the brunch means to her.

“This is an amazing event which teaches young high school students many things such as interacting with elders and having good manners. It’s also fun just to walk around and see the senior citizens smile when you interact with them,” McClellan said.

Klein talked about her feelings towards the event and her hopes for the future for the event.

“It is, by far, my favorite event that I am involved in with the schools.  It is very satisfying and it is something that needs to continue on when our new high school opens its doors. I hope to be involved with this event for a long time,” Klein said.

The PTSA and student council plan to continue this event for many years in the foreseeable future.