Making a Global Impact

High school has always been known as a place where the skills needed to succeed in the future and make a difference later in life are cultivated. Yet, few students wake up and head to school expecting to be able to make an immediate impact in the world. For four current seniors, though, the opportunity to impact those other than themselves in a positive light is exactly what they achieved as a member of Mrs. Willinger’s Community Service Learning Class.

Seniors Natalie Greenbaum, Alex Zilonis, Lily Genduso and Emily Donovan couldn’t have fathomed the impact their work in Community Service Learning would have as their project has exceeded all expectations. Last year, as juniors, the group set out to explore the concept of bibliotherapy, a process by which reading is used to help deal with the traumatic experience of a belligerent illness. After weeks of struggling to find a project they wished to invest themselves in, they stumbled upon the idea of bibliotherapy at the advice of Lily Genduso’s mother, who has a doctorate in childhood education. Thus, the idea for the “The Brave Lion” coloring book was born.

The story surrounds a young lion who lives in the jungle with its family. After starting to feel unusual, the lion visits a monkey, who also happens to be a doctor, and discovers it has a serious illness. Throughout the story, the lion must deal with the uncomfortable new challenges that come with such a disease, but not without the support of family and friends. The story wouldn’t be complete, though, without the illustrations added by Julia Nelson, Emily DiPaula, and Kristen McDermott. Alex Zilonis expanded on the purpose of the story by stating,“It’s all about them just like accepting the fact that they are sick, and they are going to need to have help.” In the grand scheme of things, the plot matters little compared to the impact the theme has on children with serious afflictions.

After finding an affordable printer in the form of Gregory Doyle, the girls set up a GoFundMe in order to cover the costs for printing and shared the link on Scituate Town Monthly. To their surprise, this GoFundMe would open the door to an opportunity to expand the extent of their project much farther than they imagined. A comment was left on their page by Toni Hood, a member of Kids for Peace, an organization that helps children afflicted by AIDS/HIV and malaria in Africa, asking if the group would be interested in sending her some books to be distributed to chapters of the organization. At this point, the girls had had some success in the US as the coloring book had been distributed by Tanvi Shwarma, a colleague of Natalie Greenbaum’s mother, on the floor for AIDS treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital. Kids for Peace was offering a chance to go global, though, as they planned to send 200 books to their chapter in Kenya.

The girls happily agreed and from there the extent of the impact their books have had has expanded considerably. There are now 700 books in circulation in Kenya, the US, Burundi, Pakistan, Uganda, Nigeria and Rwanda. Plans have also been put in place to distribute these books at the Scituate Elementary Schools. The group has been recognized as an official chapter of Kids for Peace and as an official non-profit organization. The coloring book has far-exceeded what the girls had envisioned when they began planning. Natalie Greenbaum summed up this feeling of incredulousness, as she stated, “I never thought that I’d be the kinda kid who does this thing, but I guess I am.” That being said, Greenbaum as well as Zilonis and Genduso have all considered pursuing careers in this sort of field. Greenbaum went as far as to say, “You know when you see videos of  people in Africa helping kids, like I’ve always kinda wanted to do that, so this kinda just like made it more real.”

This isn’t the group’s first successful community service undertaking either as Zilonis, Genduso and Greenbaum organized the “Brighten the Fight” program as members of the Community Service Learning class sophomore year. This program set to help boost the spirits of families with a child battling cancer as the group organized free professional photos for the families. With two impactful ventures under their belt, the group has become a model for the CSL program. When describing the purpose of CSL, Mrs. Willinger, a history teacher at SHS, said “One of the biggest things that they get out of it is that they can really make change that they didn’t even really know they were capable of doing.” Alex Zilonis, Natalie Greenbaum, Lily Genduso and Emily Donovan have certainly made a difference in the world with their “The Brave Lion” coloring book. Their work is proof that it’s never too early to get involved and have a positive impact on the community around you.