Jane Carroll, Reporter
@jcarrollcourant
On December 12, Student Coalition, in partnership with Charity Link, loaded a truck filled with gifts donated for the annual Toys for Tots fundraiser. This tradition is a nationwide campaign that has been helping to make the holidays brighter for children in need for almost 80 years. This successful school-wide event has been able to donate thousands of dollars annually. At NCHS the Toys for Tots campaign has been going on for nearly 30 years, and many more to come.
Starting in late November, students at NCHS were asked to donate gifts to the bins next to the main office or make monetary donations made through MySchoolBucks. These toys were given out this holiday season to underprivileged kids for the magic of opening a gift.
Donations were crucial in order to keep the school tradition going. Priscilla Schulz, physical education teacher and StuCo advisor said, “We’ve been able to donate approximately $2,000 worth of toys to this organization this year.”
Toys for Tots is run by the U.S Marines and the toys are distributed to the communities in need. StuCo President Susanna Rittenberry advocates for donations, both gifts and money. “At least 50 kids in StuCo bring in three toys so that at least 150 toys,” said Susanna. “Parents and students donate money and than we use that to buy a bunch of toys.” Throughout this fundraiser, the toy bins have been overflowing with donations. That’s not all, StuCo went around the cafeteria during lunch hours with a Toys for Tots jar looking for cash donations.
With the monetary donations, the senior leaders of StuCo then go to Walmart to purchase even more toys. The next morning all the donations were brought to the school. StuCo members loaded a truck that came on December 12 and took all the toys to the communities in need.
This campaign unites the broader NCHS community. “It’s a great way to bring the community together during the holidays,” said Susanna. “It’s festive, fun and something that’s easy to contribute to.”
