Students spread the holiday spirit through service
by ERIC GUZMAN
This holiday season, students have the opportunity to help Santa Claus give gifts to children around the world by partaking in various service events.
Amidst the wave of manic holiday shopping, many seem to forget that others less fortunate than they are who do not receive any gifts for holidays. As a result, several Spartans will help give gifts to children around the world—from Montebello to Kenya—this holiday season.
Girls’ League will be taking part in Operation Christmas Child, a program sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse that gives shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, personal items and other small gifts to children in over 130 countries. Every member of the club will be filling one shoebox, with Girls’ League donating 60 boxes in total. The shoeboxes will be taken to a processing center in Huntington Beach where they will be inspected and prepared before being shipped out. Students interested in donating shoeboxes of their own should visit samaritanspurse.org for more information.
“Operation Christmas Child helps children from very poor countries know that there are others who are thinking about them and wishing them a very happy Christmas,” said junior Gabby Mariscal. “I want others to experience the joy of Christmas every bit as much as we do.”
Key Club will be aiding in the Montebello Heart of Compassion in their food and toy distribution Dec. 20 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Members will assist in filling shopping carts with free groceries as well as helping people take the food back to their cars if necessary. In addition, members will help give toys to children that attend. Heart of Compassion is a nonprofit organization that provides fresh fruits, vegetables and other nutritional foods to shelters, veterans, seniors and school programs throughout Southern California.
“The people at Heart of Compassion are really friendly and enthusiastic about helping people, which makes the event much more fun,” said senior Qiming Yang, Key Club vice president. “There should be events like this everywhere, because there are many people struggling financially, and it can be especially difficult during the holiday season when they have to provide for a family.”
Santa will need all the elves he can get if he is going to provide gifts for all the children in the world. With the help of some Spartans, more can have a jolly holiday this year.