The holiday season marks one of the busiest times of the year for the Newfane Leo Club.
The youth counterpart to the Newfane Lions Club consists of about 78 middle and high school students who undertake community service efforts year-round, especially as Christmas draws nearer.
“We never have a dull moment,” Leo Club president Ella Thibault said. “There’s always something we have going on whether it’s holiday based or just helping out somebody in the community.”
Thibault, now a senior, became a Leo when she was in fifth grade. Her involvement with the club is somewhat of a family affair. Her father, Vic, has been its adult adviser since it was founded approximately 15 years ago and his classroom at Newfane Middle School serves as the Leos’ regular meeting spot.
Thibault said one of the biggest projects she has undertaken as Leo president was a shoebox drive during her sophomore year.
“I collected over 8,000 items, toys, hygiene items, gift cards, anything you can think of, and we put together 150 shoe boxes…for kids in our Newfane district,” she said.
Sophomore Hayden Kopp, the club’s vice president, also joined when she was in fifth grade.
“A friend of mine went (to a club meeting) and they were like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so fun, come join.’ That’s how it all started,” Kopp said. “Then I would do floats for the Christmas parade and then my involvement just grew from there.”
On the heels of participating in this year’s Light Up Newfane Parade, the Leos are now gearing up to host their annual pancake breakfast with Santa at the Olcott fire hall on Sunday. The breakfast is one of the many fundraising events originally hosted by the Lions Club that the Leos inherited.
“The Lions had once done it and with Covid they had stopped, and I said, well, I still wanted to do it, so we took over,” Thibault said.
Kopp said the most rewarding part of being a Leo is “the relationships you make and the stuff you do for the community like the Santa breakfast, raising money and just helping everybody out there.”
Before she graduates, Thibault hopes to leave an impression on younger Leos.
“Leading them to feel how I once felt, I think is really impactful,” she said.