The L.O.V.E. Club at San Benito High School is designed to raise awareness about depression and suicide among today’s teens. Its purpose is to make a difference in the community by discussing tough issues. L.O.V.E. stands for Letting Others Voice Emotion.
The club is supported by Mars Hill Coffeehouse, where most of the club’s events are held. The club was created two years ago by former Baler Becca Cavanaugh, who also believed in eliminating the stigma toward depression and making it known to the students that they are not alone in this battle.
Club Advisor and SBHS teacher Charles Schallhorn explains what makes L.O.V.E. Club unlike any other club on campus by saying, “It’s not to raise money for an event, not to clean up the environment, not to get scholorships, but to raise awareness to teen depression and suicide.”
It is a club to support the fighters of a life-threatening condition. “Nobody says, ‘Cancer, oh just get over it,’ or ‘think differently,’” Schallhorn says, pointing out that depression should be treated like every other disease.
L.O.V.E. Club’s Vice President, Karizma Antopia, said she was diagnosed with depression and an eating disorder during her freshman year. Antopia said she wants people to know it isn’t “bad” that a person has this problem, and to make people more aware that “depression in teens is real.”
People involved in the club learn ways to be a friend to those who are in need and to simply make a difference inside and outside the Baler community.