By James Tatter,
Staff Writer
There are two main ways to spread Christmas cheer: giving to others and singing loud for all to hear. First, let’s talk about how you can give to your community, and if you want to sing, we can do that, too. Just let me know.
102 Jamz is having a fundraiser to collect toys for children as part of the Marine Corps’ annual Toys for Tots program, and the Reynolds Care Club is issuing a challenge. Whichever Reynolds class collects the most toys — new and unwrapped — will be getting a special surprise. That’s not too hard, right? Radio personality Tap Money of 102 Jamz will be living on a bus for four days to help encourage people to donate toys for the drive, so c’mon and get those toys to your teachers by Dec. 14.
The FCCLA is joining with the Ronald McDonald House this year. The Ronald McDonald house hosts many families who travel to receive medical care at nearby Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Affordable and conveniently located housing is hard to come by, so the Ronald McDonald house makes sure these families have a nice place to stay with everything the guests may need. That means they constantly need to restock on food, paper goods, household toiletries and many other things that contribute to the friendly environment.
“I have had a few stays at the Ronald McDonald houses across the country with a sick child,” FCCLA adviser Shannon Kerr said. “The students came up with the idea. The FCCLA always does a holiday community service project.”
Items for the kitchen (single-serve foods such as fruit cups, granola bars and crackers or microwave meals like soups and pastas), for cleaning (Clorox Wipes, disposable floor dusting sheets), paper goods (such as cups for hot and cold beverages) and the household (laundry detergents, new white queen sheet sets) all come in handy. Monetary donations also help: For $58, a family can be adopted for a night. It takes $2,030 to house all 35 families a night. Gift cards for groceries, gas, restaurants and shopping also are helpful. Goods for FCCLA are also due by Dec. 14.
The Creative Writing Club is also doing its part to help the community by asking for the support of Reynolds’ students. The club is trying to collect journals, pencils and books. These supplies are going to the Bright Horizons Foundation, whose goal is to educate children of homeless parents. Drop this stuff off in either the library or to Amy Fitzgerald in Room 214 as soon as possible.
These aren’t the only charitable opportunities available to you this holiday season. Not by a long shot. Every food bank and soup kitchen in town could use volunteers and donations. Same for the Red Cross and many other organizations. Even if you don’t have time to volunteer, just giving change to the Salvation Army guy ringing the bell at Thruway is a way to do your part.
Cheery music, fantastic food and ABC’s 25 Days of Christmas, among many, many other things, all contribute to making the holiday season great for most of us. Why not help out to make someone else’s holiday season great, too? The next time you are at the store, grab some notebooks and a box of pop tarts, a few cans, maybe an Etch A Sketch or some other fun toy. Then get those to Reynolds pronto. You could make the difference in someone’s holiday season that they remember for the rest of their lives.
Spread some Christmas cheer this holiday season, Demons!