Grateful Giving

After years of being the recipient of others’ charitable gifts and gestures, the students of The Children’s Learning Center, (CLC) room 538, decided they wanted to give back. CLC is a private special education school in Roosevelt and serves individuals with disabilities ranging from 1.5 to 21 years old.

These very special students worked on an annual school project entitled “Helping Hands for the Holidays.” They are given the opportunity to donate presents to other students in need and to share some extra holiday cheer. The helping hands volunteers were able to raise money to buy gifts by hosting several different sales and by December they had about $500. Frank shared, “I like working the sale.”

After the sales were through, the hard work began. They created shopping lists, bought toys and clothes and three carts filled with gifts later, the students then wrapped all the presents. Finally, 69 boxes were beautifully wrapped, labeled, and secretly distributed in a black bag. The “Helping Hands for the Holidays” program was a true success as the students volunteered their time to make sure less fortunate students in their school have a memorable holiday. Summing up their feelings about the experience Shaun exclaimed, “It is fun to wrap gifts for the kids.” Christian added, “I like helping kids,” and Patrick said, “Fun to give.”