Santa Claus has some help this holiday season, courtesy of the Seneca High School student council.
The school’s annual toy drive concluded last week with hundreds of toys being loaded onto trucks that will then be distributed to children in need.
Erica Maira who works in the guidance office has been the advisor for student council the last three years. This year’s drive was the biggest she’s seen.
“Last year was down a little bit. It varies year to year with families moving into the area or moving away. The amount that was collected this year was phenomenal. We’ve never filled two sides of the cafeteria before,” Maira said. “It really was a banner year.”
Students from the surrounding schools in the district collect toys and bring them into donate. Indian Mills Memorial School in Shamong, Cranberry Pines in Medford, and Olson Middle School all participated in this year’s drive. The credit belongs to those students as well Maira said.
“The students at those schools really do a great job of collecting the toys,” Maira said. “We share the letters the kids who receive the donations send us and it really gets the other students excited to help out.”
Seneca’s student council cleaned and organized the toys and displayed them in the cafeteria on Dec. 5. Representatives from The Arc of Burlington County, Christian Caring Center and the Dudley School were just some of the organizations that came to “shop” at Seneca. The toys are then distributed by these organizations across South Jersey. The toy drive services more than 800 children.
Chris Callahan, George Tutwiler, Portia Spearman, Maria Malave and Jane Wenstrom of the Octavius V. Catto Community School in Camden all were a part of this year’s collection. This is Wenstrom’s 16th year partnering with the district’s toy drive.
“The drive started at Shawnee High School when my children were students there. Since then it’s moved to Seneca and they’ve done a great job with it,” Wenstrom said. “We distribute these toys to 500 kids through our school alone.”
For Maira and the rest of the student council, reading the letters from those receiving the toys make all the hard work worth it.
“Reading the letters and hearing how happy the kids are, how excited they are just warms your heart so much,” Maira said. “To know we have a hand in that is a great feeling for all of us.”
