By JOYANNA LOVE/Senior Staff Writer

Isabella High School’s Believe It or Not I Care Club is planning a year of helping other both at the school and beyond.

The first project the students will tackle will be finding a way to help victims of Hurricane Harvey.

During the group’s first meeting, students were asked to research ways the students might be able to help victims. Club sponsor and school counselor Amy Balllew suggested creating cards and posters of encouragement.

The club was started two years ago as a way to promote a caring atmosphere.

“The main thing is just promoting a caring environment among students and also giving an opportunity to students who may not be able to be in an academic club, but they might just like to do something to serve the school,” Ballew said. “We hope to be more active then we were last year.”

Ballew said sometimes students may not want to come to school because the think no one cares about them.

“Sometimes it’s not a matter of someone not caring, sometimes its matter of someone not knowing,” Ballew said.  That’s where the Believe it or not I care club comes in to effect.”

This year students will be divided into teams to help students and those connected to the school facing different difficult circumstances. These will include a new student team, extended illness team, hospitalization team, loss team and school tragedy team.

“Through these outreaches we will target specific groups, trying to keep up with our students to help everyone realize how important they are to our campus,” Ballew said.

The new students team would help students who come to Isabella mid-year in getting comfortable with the school

In the past, the club has hosted a dance contest to raise money for student who needed supplies or clothes for school and a teacher appreciation breakfast. Ballew said they hope to hold the breakfast again this year.

The only requirement is that students have “good, moral character, making sure that they understand that they are a part of a team that we want to be able to be an example that others can follow,” Ballew said.

Last year, there were 30 students in the club. Ballew hopes to have even more this year.