Loudoun in Need (LIN) is a volunteer-based club that started here at Briar Woods last year. The club was founded last year by a now-college freshman, Sneha Gatuku, and is now run by senior Kathryn Dorre.

“The count has grown significantly, I’d say there are probably 40 people who are participating in the club,” said club sponsor Terisa Vaillancourt, when asked about how the club has grown over the past year. Her job as sponsor is “to support and foster and facilitate [the club members], just provide a space and provide time for a meeting, and maybe sometimes to run things past the administrators to make sure that it’s all okay.” Vaillancourt’s hope for this club is that “each and every student feels like their contribution was impactful and significant.”

So far this year, LIN has partnered with the Dulles Food Pantry in order to provide for families in need. The boxes were placed outside of the library and students were asked to bring their donations in and scan a QR code on the boxes in order to get accounted for. 

Some suggested items for donations include canned soups, cereal, canned vegetables and instant oatmeal. Personal care items such as toothbrushes and deodorant were encouraged as well.

The mission for the club is ‘to get students consistently staying involved the entire school year,” says Kathryn Dorre, club president. The club chooses which events to be a part of by “checking out the organization’s mission statement, checking their previous involvement, and trying to visualize what [LIN] can do to maximize the outcome.” 

The Dulles Pantry food drive received a lot of donations from students. The club hopes to have “more activities and events in the holiday season and springtime!” said Dorre. 

Much like last year, with the fundraiser with LAWS – Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter – the Loudoun in Need club is hoping to help improve the community around them.

One potential volunteer opportunity for the club was to partner with the Loudoun County Animal Shelter (LCAS). 

A worker from the LCAS agrees with the statement that they receive a lot of donations from volunteer groups. When asked what things they needed most to be donated, they replied saying “everything, food is always needed [here].”