Student Council hosts annual holiday drive
In previous years, students and staff picked tags from the office to purchase gifts for those in need. This year, Student Council collected donations to purchase gift cards for families in need.
Student Council successfully hosted their annual holiday drive with Monday, December 7, being the last official day for donations.
All donations went to the families within the Grayslake North community who are in need of financial assistance this holiday season. There has been an increase of families in need of help since the start of the pandemic. Student Council strives to help these families with their donations.
“We wanted to kind of reach out to those families that some of our special services teams have been in contact with and really make sure that all of our North families in the community are feeling support and can reach out to us so that their holiday season is a little bit brighter,” said head sponsor of the Student Council, Meghan Crowley.
The drive began accepting donations on November 11, and since then they have collected almost $4,000 for their cause. They now have enough money to support thirty-two families in need. The extra money that is collected will go into local food pantries in order to give back to the community even more.
“It’s community-oriented. It feels good that the community is helping each other and actually having a bond of some sort,” said senior Michelle Szul, vice president of the Student Council.
Everyone had the opportunity to help the Student Council raise money by donating through the Grayslake North webstore. Donations still may be able to be given if an individual contacts the head sponsors of the Student Council directly.
This drive was one of many Student Council events that gives back to the community. It has been a tradition for years, and the students assist with making sure that it runs smoothly. With COVID-19 precautions, it looked a little different compared to past years. Students are helping to safely package gift cards and any other items necessary to help the families.
“I think that it can just be a reminder that we are lucky for all that we have and we can really help some people in our community,” said prevention and wellness coordinator Jenny Andersen.
