St. Louis High School students and faculty came together to donate items to a family in need beginning Monday, Dec 3, 2018. The SLHS National Honor Society has hosted this event, called Adopt-a-Family, previously and are doing so this year too. The point of the drive is to help out a local family that needs help making ends meet this Christmas season.

According to Aynslee Koutz, chair of the Adopt-a-Family committee, “I chose to be the chair of the committee because I have volunteered for the Salvation Army during Christmas for many years. I love doing Adopt-a-Family because when I get to drop [items] off, it reminds me why I keep myself involved in community service because I get to see the impact it has on people. I am hoping that we will be, if not as successful as last year, then more! I would like to see the family we helped have a wonderful stress-free Christmas like anyone should.”

Items that the family is asking for include JoJo Siwa toys, softball gear, clothes canned goods, and so much more. The family is also willing to accept monetary donations, gas cards, and other such things.

The concept of this drive was pitched to the SLHS advisory classes Friday, Nov. 30, with collection beginning the following Monday. Each advisory was assigned a group of items that they are responsible for bringing in, although additional contributions are much appreciated and accepted. In addition to helping out a family in need, NHS contributed an added bonus: the first five advisory classes to turn in all of their required gifts to Mrs. Dubridge’s classroom are to receive an ice cream sandwich party sponsored by NHS. The donation deadline is Friday.

“As a chapter of the National Honor Society, it is very important for us to give back to our community,” Mrs. Beery, an NHS advisor, commented. “The holiday season can be a time of loneliness and unhappiness for some families. Anything we can do to make the holiday season more cheerful and comforting is our ultimate goal for Adopt-a-Family; helping a local family is the icing on the cake.”