While the rest of the school catches up on their sleep during Sunday morning, a group of dedicated students rush through a grocery store to buy food for people they’ve never met. This is just a glimpse into the work that the community service clubs of Richard Montgomery do in order to support those in need.

RM offers a wide range of student organizations, including athletic teams, academic societies and arts and cultural clubs. Among these options, community service clubs give students opportunities to help others beyond the school campus.

One of these organizations is Storytime Circle, a student-run community service club founded at the beginning of freshman year by three students: Juniors Aleah Lacson, Sarah Harrison, and Eva Sledge. “We started the club because we believe reading is an important skill that children should love and appreciate,” Lacson said. “We wanted to share the joy of reading with elementary school students through our storytime program.”

Storytime Circle members visit nearby schools at the end of the day and read aloud to students whose grade level ranges from kindergarten through fourth grade. Depending on the age group, they read picture books or chapter books. During meetings at lunch, they plan for future visits and create handmade bookmarks to distribute.

In two years, after the founders graduate, they plan to pass leadership of the club down to younger students, so that their organization continues doing its work in the future.

Support Small Projects, a club founded by freshman Sewon Kim this year, stands out by supporting other nonprofit volunteering organizations. Every month, the club does free marketing and advertising for a nonprofit. Last month in January, members did a donation drive for Leveling the Playing Field, an organization whose aim is to expand sports access to youth by distributing free playing equipment.

By bringing awareness to these organizations, the club benefits the community by promoting a variety of helpful societal services. Not only do they provide students with this information, but they also reach the broader Rockville community. “Students get to know they have these opportunities, and our members get the opportunity to reach out to nonprofits, design their own flyers and Instagram posts and plan donation drives for fundraisers,” Kim said.

Small Things Matter is an example of an RM service club that serves as one of many branches part of a broader network and organization. One of their main initiatives is food distribution to the community. They obtain this food through donations and partnerships with local grocery stores.

The club doesn’t just help the RM community. Members regularly embark on long drives to help deliver food all across Montgomery County in order to help the needy. “We don’t usually deliver to Rockville since there isn’t as much food insecurity here. But the run I do goes to Langley Park, so we benefit the entire Montgomery County community, not just RM,” junior and club leader Andrew Kuan said. “On the last run, I think we rescued around 2,000 pounds of food or more. I don’t know how much exactly, but to quantify, we usually can fill at least two minivans to the brim with food.”

Despite their considerable achievements, these clubs continue to face a variety of challenges. One of the biggest difficulties faced by community service clubs is maintaining student engagement. “The biggest problem is getting enthusiasm, because it’s kind of hard to get high schoolers enthusiastic about service,” Kuan said. “For our first two meetings, we had ice cream and other treats. We put quite a bit of effort into keeping people engaged, but at the same time we also don’t want them to be in the club just for our ice cream.”

Additionally, service projects that rely on charity or the goodwill of others tend to suffer from inconsistency. Some projects can achieve substantial successes when the conditions are right, while others fail to generate any support. “Regarding donation drives, we never know what the outcome is like. We don’t know if we’re gonna get four boxes of books or if we’re going to get any at all. The outcome is very uncertain,” Kim said.

Despite the existence of significant challenges, many find community service to be a rewarding experience. For some students, it serves as a way to stay active, relieve stress and find personal fulfillment. “I think I just feel really fulfilled after volunteering. Even if I have a lot of other work to do, it clears my brain,” Kim said. “I can talk to people, and I can give back to the community.”

For others, it has transformed their perspective on social work. “It makes me see how service can actually be fun. I always looked at people who said, ‘Service is so much fun, you should do it,’ as if they were kind of crazy,” Kuan said. I used to think most service was done just because people want to get into college, but they kind of have a point. I found that service is fun and relaxing on its own.”