Love is in the air during the month of February, and the students at James M. Quinn Elementary School are spreading some of that love to animals.

What first began as a way for students to learn how to respect one another, turned into a monthly ordeal where beginning last December, each month was assigned a characteristic which students should strive toward using in their daily lives.

According to Family Outreach Social Worker Tiffany Martin, the month of February’s characteristic is kindness. This month, however, Diane Doe’s fifth grade class decided to take the characteristic to the next step and reach out to the community.

“The students wanted to take things to the next level,” said Doe. “There are lots of places that need our help, but we decided on the SouthCoast Humane Society and Shelter.”

According to their website, the mission of the Humane Society is to provide humane professional care and placement of unwanted, abandoned and stray animals in the Greater New Bedford region and the city of Fall River. The society also educates the public concerning animal welfare and advocate for humane treatment of animals everywhere.

What began as a small act of kindness in one classroom, soon spread to include various other fifth grade classrooms, as well as ultimately the entire school, all searching to make a difference.

“In the morning, a few of us go around and collect items from each grade level,” said fifth grader Emma Gomes.

“Their goal was to get one hundred donations by the one-hundredth day of school, which is February 10,” said Assistant Principal Audra Thomas. “They’re really doing a fabulous job.”

In fact, the students are doing more than a great job of spreading awareness and acquiring donations. As of Feb. 3, the students have collected over 140 donations, which includes anything the shelter needs from dog and cat food, to toys, treats and cleaning supplies.

“Our goal is to get one hundred donations from each grade level,” said fifth grader Madison Tiburtino.

Few of the students have become so committed to raising awareness that they have stayed indoors during recess time to create posters and original announcements for each day of the week.

Fifth graders Regan Leconte and Sophie Giosa even went so far as to create flyers to pass around at school.

“[The Humane Society] gets everything through the donations,” said Giosa.

Since the students are only collecting donations up until February 12, some are worried that people won’t continue to contribute to the shelter.

“I hope that more animals will be adopted,” said fifth grader Madison Stott. “Hopefully this will help to get the story out there and help the shelter.”

Doe mentioned that all the students researched the shelter before they pitched their idea to Principal Colin Grimsey.

“We want to do this more than one time a year,” said Leconte. “It’s a really good deed and nice to do in general.”

Fifth grader Leigha Gippo, who has family members allergic to some animals, has teamed up with her mother to contribute in another way: volunteering at the shelter.

“We want to raise awareness so more people will help with training and donations,” said fifth grader Katherine Pajak.