The holidays are thought to be a time with big family dinners, buying and receiving gifts, and getting a little extra money added to your paycheck. The streets are filled with string lights and cheer all throughout the final months of the year. This might be your view of this season, but less fortunate families may not see it the exact same way. They might see it as the more stressful time of year and may find it difficult to make ends meet. Have you ever thought about how you could bring holiday joy to these families’ lives?

The James Buchanan student body has been outwardly striving to help families in need during this Christmas season. These attempts have included food drives with canned goods and toy collections. Certain students feel that, by doing these things, it not only helps other people, but it can also join everyone together as a school.

“When we help each other out, it just connects our school more closely together…” said Claire Kriner (11).

Student Council began the canned food and toy collection on Nov. 28 and is continuing it throughout the month of December. Boxes wrapped in festive wrapping paper were placed inside of classrooms to collect these items.

“We get donations from businesses sometimes, but we want to encourage lots of your classmates to donate food so we can have enough food for people,” said Meredith Iverson (10), “because it benefits people in this school district.”

In order to motivate students to donate items, Student Council has come up with an idea that allows homerooms to compete for points. Getting points depends on how many and what kinds of objects each homeroom provides for less fortunate families. The homeroom that receives the most points wins the competition.

“It’s a way that our school can give items to families in need that might not have everything.” said Kriner.

Members of the student body feel it is a moral obligation for them to make Christmas a happier time for other people who may struggle during the holidays. They also want to encourage others to realize that Christmas is not just about receiving gifts.

“I just want to get a stronger sense of positivity because I know that not many people in our school think about this stuff,” said Bella Shupp (10), “They don’t think about people that are struggling, so I think this will really help everyone in the school see that Christmas is about more than just getting stuff for yourself.”

During the holiday season this year, James Buchanan has been making efforts to focus less on themselves and more so on families that may struggle in providing necessary items or affording gifts for their children. Students believe that they can make a positive change in the community if they work together as a school.