The Boys and Girls club of Elgin is an organization which helps produce positive outcomes for youth all around the area. Throughout the month of Feb., First Generation Student Club, ASPIRE hosted a program called the Love Drive to collect all sorts of supplies to help the Boys and Girls Club members succeed further in life.

“Love Drive is a great program; we collect items so the program can continue to be successful, kids can benefit from this,” said ASPIRE Vice President Andres Garcia.

ASPIRE hosts the Love Drive every year in Feb.. In the past they have also helped out Little Angels, which is an organization that works with children who have mental and physical disabilities. It called an ASPIRE tradition.

“Every year we show our support for the community and to teach our members the importance of giving,” said ASPIRE treasurer Jose Lopez.

To shake things up, ASPIRE had decided to hold a contest between all of the Student Life clubs. Different items that donated are worth a certain amount of points. it was a points based system, where different items are worth a certain amount of points. For example: highlighters were worth one point each and board games were worth five points each. The winner of the contest won a pizza party paid for by ASPIRE, the competition went on throughout the month of Feb.

ASPIRE chose to help them out is because it is described as a great program that helps give kids a bright future, and Lopez hopes it encouraged students to donate.

“We hope that they understand that it is important to help out the community,” said Lopez.

There have also been a good amount of ECC students that have volunteered with Boys and Girls Club. Volunteers described it as a home-away-from-home for the kids and a place to have fun and play.

“It’s a good place for kids to feel welcome, [and]develope their social skills,” said ASPIRE member Ana Monreal. “They are in a safe environment.”

Lopez hopes that there are more successful Love Drives in the future, which means more donations, less empty boxes in the hallways, and more participation from clubs and organizations and students of ECC.

“I am just thankful to everyone that has helped out. They have truly made a difference,” said Lopez.