This year, LT choir wanted to do its part to make the world a better place. They decided to give back by taking donations and helping out at Feed My Starving Children.

“We chose to become more charitable because not only does it impact the LT choir community to bring everyone together and provide empathy, but it also benefits the rest of the world at the same time and helps people give back to those who have less than us,” Choir Board President Hayley Mirabile ‘19 said.

By early October they collected $127 for the Red Cross, choir teacher Constance Lyda said. They are currently collecting for the American Cancer Society, and students will choose a charity for each of the coming months.

“Students are reminded every day that they can donate a little money,” Lyda said. “Through the year, we’ll see that even though individuals only donated a little, as a group we made a bigger impact.”

Choir will also be collecting donations at their concerts, Lauren Scriba ‘19 said.

“Choir allows students to do what they love [singing], while it also strengthens their emotional intelligence and ability to give back to the world,” Mirabile said.

Besides collecting donations, choir students also went to Feed My Starving Children. About 75 students and 15 adults went to Feed My Starving Children to package food on Sept. 10 after school, Mirabile said. They hope to make it an annual trip.

“It was fun and interesting,” Scriba said. “It was amazing to see everyone come together, and it was a charitable and bonding experience.”

This year, they want two all choir trips and want to plan more volunteer trips for individual choir classes, Mirabile said. They are considering going to Feed My Starving Children again or somewhere new.

“I was wondering what we could do to further encourage a culture in which being considerate of others is just the norm,” Lyda said. “When there are 50 people that meet every day who practice this, you can feel it in the room and it can spill over outside the room.”

For the past two years, choir put on a dodge ball tournament in November, Lyda said. This year on Nov. 16, the teams will also be competing for who can collect the most money. Seventy five percent of this money will go to a charity that helps refugees, and the remaining 25 percent will go to choir to cover their expenses during the year.

“When we take action to help others, we feel empowered, and we see that we actually can make a difference, especially when we take action with a group,” Lyda said.

During choir last year, Scriba had many ideas, spent hours planning for the Feed My Starving Children field trip, and launched the student donation effort, Lyda said.

“You can always do something to help someone out,” Scriba said.