LYNN — At Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, SkillsUSA students are turning service into something deeply personal this year.
“SkillsUSA, we’re a student-based organization; it’s a national thing,” Dana Hurley, president of the chapter, explained. The organization focuses on three main pillars — community service, leadership, and competition — all centered around promoting career and technical education.
Throughout the school year, students design and carry out service projects that support their community. Those efforts are later documented and presented at district, state, and even national competitions in Atlanta, Georgia. But for this chapter, the real reward isn’t just medals; it’s impact.
Last year, the group chose “nourishment” as its theme after recognizing widespread food insecurity in the area.
“We noticed a lot of hunger and homelessness, a lot of food insecurity in our community,” Vice-President Bryan Belloso said.
The chapter hosted multiple events, culminating in a hunger and homelessness forum that combined service and education. Participants made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for My Brother’s Table while also learning more about what hunger looks like locally.
This year, students decided to take a different approach. Instead of focusing only on awareness, they are focusing on the people who dedicate their lives to fighting food insecurity.
“There’s a lot of under-appreciation for these people,” Belloso said. “So we wanted to kind of be at least a group that could show that appreciation that is, like, much deserved.”
The result is the Appreciation Project.
The chapter plans to invite individuals and organizations who have made a meaningful impact on hunger and homelessness. Rather than simply hosting an awards ceremony, students are creating an interactive, hands-on event that reflects the school’s vocational programs.
Carpentry students are building handcrafted memory boxes. During the event, invited guests will work alongside student leaders to assemble and decorate their own boxes. Inside each box will be a custom metal plate created with help from the advanced manufacturing trade — a symbolic recognition of their contributions.
“It’s more of a community building kind of thing, not just: come in, we’re giving you something, and bye,” Jason McCuish, vice principal of Lynn Tech, said. “It sort of makes it a little more intimate.”
The project is expected to take place in mid-March, with students finalizing plans while balancing fundraising and competition preparation.
Service, however, does not begin or end with one event. The chapter expanded its school-based community closet this year by adding a community kitchen stocked with non-perishable food items. Through fundraising efforts and shop competitions, students raised more than $4,000 to support their initiatives and also donated $2,500 to My Brother’s Table earlier this year.
Members regularly volunteer and have supported younger students at Washington Elementary School as they establish their own community closet and kitchen.
For some students, the mission is personal.
“My family kind of survived off food stamps for a long time,” Belloso shared. “Now that I’m in the position where we’re financially stable… It’s time to pay it forward. Obviously, do we fix the issue? No, but we do what we can.”
Secretary of the chapter, Hailley Mendez, shared that their chapter stands out because they design and lead their own projects from start to finish, often arriving early, staying late, and even meeting during school vacations.
“Lynn is our home,” Historian Karla Figueroa said. “We really just want to create a better aspect for the future generation.”
Through the Appreciation Project, SkillsUSA members hope to inspire those already doing the work — and remind them they are seen.
“I think it’s very different when a bunch of young people are recognizing you for what you do,” McCuish stated. “It just hits something deeper.”
For these students, service isn’t just a competition category. It’s a commitment to their community and to the people who quietly sustain it every day.
