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For the past four summers, Arts Winchester (AWI) has organized the summer sidewalk art exhibit featuring artwork by professional and student artists exhibited on 45 adhesive panels in downtown Winchester.
Each year, the de-installation of the exhibit is hard work usually done by a handful of AWI Board members who spend two to three days pulling up the 3x3 foot panels. This year, however, thanks to the Winchester Lion’s Heart volunteers, the de-installation took just over one hour.
It all started in a recent AWI board meeting. Board member and Winchester Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dana Garmey suggested reaching out to Lion’s Heart coordinator Kerry Seitz who brought in Leanne Christmas.
The result was six volunteers — 12 strong hands who made the de-installation a breeze. AWI could not be more grateful and thought Winchester Lion’s Heart deserved to a spotlight in Winchester News’ Helpers Amongst Us.
Meredith Chamberlain and her son David brought Lion's Heart to Winchester from California. They knew how successful and valuable it could be for teens and didn’t see another program like it that was available for middle schoolers at the time. They founded the Winchester chapter 6 1/2 years ago with members as passionate as they are about making a difference in their community.
Meredith first heard about Lion’s Heart when she broke her foot during her move from New York to California. It was Lion’s Heart that helped her unpack and organize her kitchen, leaving a lasting impression.
“Small gestures often have grand consequences,” Meredith said. “The little acts add up when you have teams working together.”
Winchester Lion’s Heart is part of a national, non-profit community service and leadership organization for teens. Members choose how they want to serve their community and are empowered to volunteer for charities and causes that are meaningful to them.
The beauty of Lion’s Heart is that you get to team up with your peers to make a difference in the community in which you live while also growing in all the soft leadership skills needed for the world. Membership builds accountability and structure that fosters the generation of new service ideas, and it also builds bridges across a plethora of other clubs and organizations. There are no roadblocks for cross platform volunteering, allowing each member to get a niche experience.
Lion’s Heart members commit to 25 hours of service, and groups offer leadership opportunities to the members. Meetings are run by the members, and the officer positions include president, vice president, secretary and historian — each of which involves regular maintenance toward the organization and benefit of the group.
Lion’sHeart.org provides an online log where the members log their hours, and can utilize tools to break down how time is spent/categories of involvement such as “environment,” “hunger,” “youth,” “military,” etc.
Transcripts of these logs can be sent to colleges and members can earn awards for completing 100+ hours of service. Several of the Winchester LH members have received these honors.
The website also provides members a vault of resources, volunteer opportunities and leadership training toolkits.
The founding group — Boys Blue 2024 — was established in April 2019. The group was in the eighth grade when they got started with seven members: David Chamberlain, Jonathan Christmas, Bo Spignesi, Ben Wilson, Zachary Yoon, Joseph Yi, and Sam Kensicki.
Two additional Winchester groups formed — 2027 group, founded by 2024 group siblings — Elizabeth Chamberlain and Sam Christmas and the 2026 group founded by Noah Seitz.
“It’s nice to stop thinking about everything that’s happening in your own life and to take a step back to serve your community; it’s really a breath of fresh air,” said Elizabeth Chamberlain. “In addition, I find it really impactful to be working on a service project and then when you’re done, looking back and seeing just how much progress a few people can make.”
Noah Seitz talked about the impact Lion’s Heart has had on him.
“I started the 2026 group a few years ago with just a few of my friends,” he said. “Our group has grown to 10 now and I’m really proud of how much we do for the community. My favorite volunteer activity is serving at the Dwelling Place, a soup kitchen in Woburn. We have gotten to know the people who go there regularly for meals and it feels good to know we are able to help them.”
Currently the Winchester Chapter includes 20 members:
2027 group — Sam Christmas, Elizabeth Chamberlain, Evan Wilson, Brady Ihrig, Nick Penicaud, George Boksanski, Owen Katz, Ryan Shrule and Lily Swilling.
2026 group — Violet Arone, Jasper Carswell, Mitchell Collins, Brett Daniels, Luke Day, Nolan Gannon, Owen Penicaud, Noah Seitz, Spencer Thompson and Gavin Zicarelli.
In total, more than 2,314 hours have been done by Winchester Lion’s Heart members. And, that number is higher because of unlogged hours.
In addition to the sidewalk art de-installation, the types of volunteering has included food drives, partnering with families in need at the Shamrock School in Woburn to wrap and give gifts, ornaments and cards to the children for Christmas, Salvation Army bell ringing, Project Linus, assembling the luminary kits for Unit with Light, shoveling driveways in partnership with the Jenks Center, spring and fall cleanup, Night to Shine, Rise Against Hunger, Wright Locke Farm, Cradles to Crayons, and many more.
For the past few years, the Lion’s Heart volunteers have helped Garmey line the race route of the Glenn Doherty Memorial Race with over 2,000 flags.
“The dedication and energy of the Lion’s Heart volunteers truly embody the spirit of service that makes Winchester such a special community,” said Garmey. “Their willingness to show up — whether it’s lining the Glen Doherty Memorial race route or supporting local causes — demonstrates the power of young people coming together to make a real difference. We’re so grateful for their continued partnership and the positive impact they bring to our town.”
In additional to all the above, two new organizations that Winchester Lion’s Heart will be supporting this year is Bikes not Bombs and C.A.R.E. (serving homeless at South Station).
To learn more about Lion’s Heart, log on here and search for Winchester, MA.
Hilda Wong-Doo is the president of Arts Winchester. Kerry Seitz is the Lion’s Heart coordinator Kerry Seitz and Leanne Christmas is a Winchester volunteer.
