The volunteer club’s first project of the year starts with Harvesters. On Oct. 7, the volunteer class and recruited students will help package food for people in need all around Kansas City, Mo. in the Harvester’s warehouse. This year, the volunteer class is split up into different groups of three where each group is responsible for organizing, planning, and recruiting for different projects.

“My group is running Harvesters. We have put out posters, made brochures, and worked on the location of where we are going,” Taylor Elliott, volunteer member, 12, said.

The club is there for around two and a half hours helping. Harvesters is a volunteer project that can directly affect members of the Spring Hill community.

“I think it’s cool that the food, packaging, and everything we do supports [us] locally. So we know that the work we are doing is going to affect somebody in our community, whether that’s Olathe or Spring Hill,” Kerri Rodden, volunteer sponsor, said.

This project is one out of around 11 that the volunteer club has planned this year. This semester’s projects include: Harvesters, ​​Salvation Army, Thelma’s Kitchen, Literacy KC, and a blood drive.

The volunteer club is open for all students that want to participate in the projects. However, the volunteer class meets separately during school everyday and comes up with the student-led projects. 

Delaney Hill, 12, describes the Literacy KC project that her group runs.

“Last year, we went and made a little art craft that they give to kids in at-risk areas [for them] to do after they read a book. It was a rainbow craft that went along with the book they read,” said Hill.

The students also sort books for elementary and middle schools during the Literacy KC project. This project is set to take place in November. 

During the week, the class volunteers their time to one of the five elementary schools on Mondays and Fridays. Additionally, on Thursdays, they take part in an adoptive grandparents program. This is a program where students come to retirement communities to create one-on-one relationships with a grandparent they “adopt”. This gives the class a chance to spend time with members of the community and make an impact on Spring Hill.