CALUMET - Sometime last year, Calumet High School junior Brittany Nelson was thinking about how she wanted to do some sort of community service effort, but deciding exactly what to do wasn't coming to her, at least during her waking hours.
"I had an inspiration when I was trying to fall asleep one night," she said. "It just came to me."
That inspiration is now a program at CHS called Teens Who Care and Nelson, who is the club's president, said it's providing what she was looking for.
"I wanted to do something," she said. "I wanted to help out some way."
That desire to do something helpful was so strong in her, Nelson said, it was almost "irritating."
"I was almost shaking," she said "I was so excited (when I got the idea for the club)."
Suzanne Fouts, C-L-K schools special education paraprofessional, said Nelson came to her last year suggesting the idea for a service organization at the school.
"I thought it was a good idea," she said. "We went to the school board and asked if we could become a club."
At the end of last school year, Fouts said the school board approved the formation of Teens Who Care, and it got going at the beginning of this school year.
"The focus is on the elderly and doing good things for people," she said.
Fouts said the students have been working with elderly residents of Our Lady of Mercy Nursing and Rehabilitation in Hubbell. They also work with Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly in Hancock and the Keweenaw Spay and Neuter Assistance Group.
Fouts said the Teens Who Care are involved with recycling of water bottles, but that required a little financial help.
"I started looking for grants that would help our students," she said.
What she found, Fouts said, was a $250 grant from the Keweenaw Community Foundation's Environmental Endowment to help with the Teens Who Care Clean It Up recycling program.
The recycling program is important, Fouts said because so many bottles of water are sold in the C-L-K schools.
"Our school goes through almost a thousand bottles a week," she said. "It's incredible."
Recycling the plastic bottles saves a great deal of petroleum, Fouts said.
Fouts said members of Teens Who Care have been working on a couple projects for LBFE.
"For Thanksgiving, we made a little turkey (table decoration) as a gift," she said.
The turkey decoration is made from old compact discs and construction paper, Fouts said. Students also sold candy for the LBFE Turn On the Heat program, which provides heating assistance for people who are having trouble paying utility bills.
Nelson said she's been very gratified by the work Teens Who Care have done at the nursing home.
"I love going to the nursing home," she said. "It's really scary, but at the same time it's really rewarding."
Kristin Brusso, treasurer for Teens Who Care, and who is also in 11th grade, said Nelson, who is her friend, told her about the idea for the group last year, and she thought she'd like to get involved in such an effort, also.
"I thought it would be really, really cool," Brusso said. "I knew it would help the community."
Brusso said she also enjoys spending time at the nursing home.
"(The residents) just love it," she said. "It's really rewarding (for them and us)."
Brusso said although this is the first year with Teens Who Care, she "definitely" will come back to it next year.
"I think it's absolutely amazing," she said. "You can really tell it's made a difference in the community."
Another CHS junior and Teens Who Care member, Savannah Clayton, said she heard about the group from a schoolwide announcement at the beginning of the school year.
"I thought, 'Oh. That sounds like a good thing to do,'" she said.
Clayton also enjoys the visits to the nursing home, and she's certain the residents enjoy them.
"You really get attached," she said. "It's the best thing you can do."
Clayton said the water bottle recycling program the group has started for the schools is going to have an impact, also.
"I was so surprised to see how many people are using them," she said.
Fouts said she wasn't certain how the students would react to working at the nursing home, and she could tell they were a little apprehensive on the drive to Hubbell, but it turned out well.
"It was a humbling experience," she said. "Coming home, the car was abuzz."
Fouts said she thinks students in the Teens Who Care program are getting a valuable experience that will encourage them to do community service as they get older.
"It made me feel like I made a difference in their lives," she said. "I do believe it's instilling in them the gift of giving."
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com.