As the holiday season moves into full-swing, many organizations at Alton High School have expressed their holiday spirit by engaging in community service projects. The National Honor Society is among these groups and is participating in Christmas For Kids.
Christmas For Kids is a program in the Alton School District that provides presents to elementary and middle school students. NHS has taken on the responsibility of compiling gifts for eleven students.
“The students are of varying ages, mainly from elementary school,” Jessica Nemec, English teacher and National Honor Society advisor, said. “We bring the gifts to the students’ social workers, who then deliver them to the kids.”
Collection of items for the gifts has been divided among National Honor Society members who signed up to help. Each student in need is assigned either one or two NHS members that purchase both necessities and fun items for the packages.
“I went shopping for a little girl that needed Christmas gifts,” NHS member Bella Russel said. “We went to Walmart and picked up a bunch of things for her because otherwise she wouldn’t have many gifts.”
Another member, Marissa Lewis, shares other ways NHS is supporting the program. Their upcoming trivia night, hosted at Alton High School, will fund Christmas For Kids.
“The trivia night for NHS is coming up which is intended to raise funds to provide gifts for the kids in the program, and I also am planning on buying some gifts to donate for the kids,” Lewis said.
As said by Lewis, Russel, and advisors, National Honor Society members participating in Christmas For Kids are proud of the impact their service will have in the school district and Alton community.
“It’s always nice to support others’ ideas,” Nemec said. “Our members this year often go above and beyond in the way of community service.”
