Students raise $22K for Toys for Tots
With the thunderous sound of students singing Christmas carols in the background, Oak Mountain Middle School’s National Junior Honor Society recently filled a U-Haul truck with toys to brighten other children’s Christmases.
The school raises money for Toys for Tots every year, and this year collected $22,895 to donate to the Marine Corps’ annual toy drive, said Ryan Hall, an eighth-grader who coordinated the school’s effort. Students collected the money in a variety of ways, including lemonade stands, bake sales, neighborhood chores and door-to-door donation drives, Hall said.
This is the 12th year in a row they have surpassed the $20,000 goal, with the eighth-grade class earning a pizza party for raising the most money.
“It’s great buying toys for kids who otherwise would not have a Christmas,” Hall said.
At 8 a.m. on Dec. 11, about 75 middle school students stormed the Hoover Toys R Us to buy gifts with the money they had raised. Students chose a lot of stuffed animals, especially large stuffed bears, but the kids could choose whatever gifts they wanted to give, Hall said. It was Hall’s first year coordinating the donation drive, but he said he wants to continue participating in high school.
“We just went up and down the aisles and found everything we could get,” he said.
In a school assembly the same afternoon, $23,000 worth of new toys were piled in the middle of the gym floor. Students gathered to listen to National Junior Honor Society members, school faculty and former Miss Alabama Candace Brown.
“I am so impressed at how hard you guys worked,” Brown said.
Several members of the Marine Corps were on hand to receive the toys. Sgt. Harry Mendez, this year’s program coordinator and a second-time Toys for Tots participant, said the toys would be taken to a Toys for Tots warehouse and then distributed through an area YMCA.
The assembly closed with faculty leading the entire school in Christmas carols while the honor society students bagged and loaded the toys.
“They did a great job, fantastic job,” Mendez said. “Because of them, some kid whose family is struggling now will be able to have a Christmas.”