Leo club is the youth-led branch of Lions International, focused on volunteering and getting teens involved in their communities. There are thousands of Leo clubs across the country, with one of these clubs being based in LaGrange Highlands. This year, many students from LT have gotten involved in Leo club, two of those being Maureen Patrick ‘22 and Catherine Sommerfeld ‘23.

Patrick, the vice president of the club, is responsible for the management of social media, recruiting new members, and being present at the variety of events they are involved in, she said.

“Leo club benefits the community because we get teens involved in volunteering,” Patrick said. “The more kids we get involved, the more we can help local organizations in the community.”

The club is consistently involved in many different projects, with their current project being a shoe drive through Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program. These shoes will be used to build new tracks, playgrounds, and walkways. The drive has been running since February and ends March 18, with boxes being at SC for students and staff to donate. 

Sommerfeld, the secretary of the club, explained all of the upcoming events in store for the Leo club, with big events to look forward to as summer approaches. On March 20, they will be volunteering to work the start corrals at the annual Shamrock Shuffle in downtown Chicago, Sommerfeld said. Arguably the biggest event of the year, their dog treat sale, will take place at Katherine Legge Memorial Park on May 15, with most of the proceeds going to the West Suburban Humane Society, Sommerfeld said. 

The mission of the Leo club is to positively impact those in the community, and there are a lot of opportunities to do so, Sommerfeld said. 

“Leo club has shown me the great impact of our actions to support the community,” Sommerfeld said. “It is truly rewarding to be able to help a positive cause and see first-hand how our service betters people’s lives.”

Leo club meets every other Sunday at 1 p.m. at the La Grange Park Public Library. For more information or updates on Leo club, follow @lagrangeleos on Instagram.