WALNUT — Pass the Love resale shop in Walnut has made a $620 donation to the Bureau Valley High School music program.

The proceeds were raised from sales of Bissell rug cleaners, along with cash donations made by customers, Claire Keasler, a store volunteer, and Lori Zeman, director of the nonprofit resale shop.

The money is going to be used to purchase sound equipment for live recording, according to BV’s band/choir instructor Payton Gehm.

“This way, at any moment during a rehearsal, I can stop the ensemble and let them listen to what they just played literally seconds ago. They can then make adjustments based on what they heard, rather than having to hear me tell them what to change,” he said. “This encourages more critical thinking from the students, and will help them to become both better performers and musical thinkers.”

Each year, the board that oversees Pass the Love has sought to assist youth programs in the Bureau Valley school district that tend to need more financial help as they are not able to do as much fundraising.

This year, the board chose to ask about the needs of the music department and offered that up as incentive to customers, $50 from each rug cleaner, along with great pricing on the cleaners. The cleaners had been a donation to Pass the Love from the Walmart Distribution Center in Spring Valley.

“This donation means a lot, not just to me, but to the school and the students. It shows commitment and support from our community, as well as trust in our students and music program,“ Gehm said. “I greatly appreciate Lori Zeman and Pass the Love for reaching out to me and donating time and money into improving the music program.”

In recent months, Pass the Love has also donated new articles of undergarment clothing to Freedom House and Second Story, as well as some items to Parents as Teachers-First Years.

Earlier in the summer, Pass the Love gave hundreds of new Frisbees away to each BV School District location for use in their PE classes as well as at the Walnut Park District. The resale shop is also still supplying items to the personal hygiene pantry for junior high and high school students at Bureau Valley.

“They’re each not a terribly big deal, $100 here and there, but I hope collectively we are making a positive impact,” Zeman said. “Business was much slower this spring and summer, and donations have been slim, so we’re a little nervous going toward winter because we have to at least break even in order to continue, but ideally we want to grow in order to offer more scholarships and fund more programs.”