When one thinks of the holiday season, they think of the season of gifting. The Student Council especially shows their contribution to this time of need. Holiday Help is a program that has been supporting families in need for several years. This year, Holiday Help is on December 15, and Student Council has been spending their time planning for this event. The Holiday Help committee (juniors and seniors) meet every other Tuesday morning to plan this event.
“It is for families in need who have children and can’t afford a special Christmas with toys and similar things like that,” said Student Council co-sponsor Ashley Kopecky.
Although it has evolved over the years, Holiday Help has become a huge donation and volunteering event for Student Council. At the event, students get together on a bus to go to a store. Each student group is given one or two families to shop for and buy the gifts or necessities they need. Student Council normally shops around for about two hours. After checkout, everyone loads back onto the bus with their gifts and heads back to the school. For the remainder of the time, the students listen to holiday music and wrap the gifts for the families.
“We gift a huge variety of things that will be helpful to families whether it be for entertainment, like board games, or if it’s necessities like coats and gloves,” said Student Council president Jayashri Madan.
Student Council takes about two months to plan Holiday Help. They have to plan donations, decorations, shopping lists, and promotion ideas. At meetings, they split into groups to conquer each task assigned to them. The donations/fundraising group has been coming up with different events that they can do to raise money for the shopping event.
“So this year, we’re starting something new with Crumbl Cookie, and then we’re also doing the lip suckers,” Kopecky said. “And then we are asking for donations from everybody involved with our school.”
Holiday Help heavily relies on donations and these fundraiser events to be able to purchase the necessities for families. There are several ways that students can show their support for Holiday Help and the families in need.
“They can show their support by word of mouth and having students actually talk about it and put it out there to their families and relatives,” Kopecky said.
As the holiday season is approaching, the Student Council asks that students participate in their various events, whether it is students participating in the winter spirit week or sharing information to coaches or family members.
