Students spread holiday cheer

During a season when people tend to focus on what they might receive, many people still remember the spirit of Christmas involves giving.

“It’s just a matter of keeping in mind what Christmas is all about,” Kathy Miller, family and consumer science teacher at McMichael High School, said. “It’s about giving, not getting.”

Miller says that lesson was not lost on McMichael’s student body this year. Several clubs and classes organized projects designed to provide a merrier Christmas season for families in the western Rockingham community.

“It was really great to see the way the students responded to the needs of people in their community,” Miller said. “A lot of the students involved couldn’t afford it themselves with the layoffs and economic problems going on now, but they still worked hard and made some generous donations to help other people in need.”

That spirit of giving was most obvious in a canned food drive sponsored by the school’s Air Force Junior ROTC unit. An annual tradition, the drive involves competition between classes to provide the highest number of items.

“Everyone participates, and it doesn’t hurt that there’s a little pride involved in winning the competition,” Miller said.

This year’s drive provided several truckloads of canned goods and other non-perishable items last week for the Hands of God food bank at Mayodan First Baptist Church. Supplies had been low only a few weeks earlier, but last week’s deliveries from the JROTC unit created a welcome overflow.

“Our regular storage room was so full we had to start storing boxes full of food in an adjacent classroom,” said Gracanne Mitchell, First Baptist’s secretary. “It’s great to see this kind of problem. But, with the economy the way it is right now, we’ll probably be running low again real soon.”

The last collections for the food drive were taken at school last Friday morning, but a lot of additional items came in during the Christmas Around the World event on Dec. 18. Another annual event for McMichael students, the program showcases the student body’s many talents.

Looking around the tables set up, Miller highlighted some of the charitable projects organized by some of the clubs and classes represented at the event.

“Our Interact Club collected funds and toys to fill 60 Christmas stockings for the Salvation Army,” she said. “We even had some things left over we’ll use for other projects.”

Interact and Mc-Michael’s Beta Club adopted local families to help with food and presents for Christmas.

The school’s Exceptional Children classes also adopted a family.

“Our students really got involved in this project, helping wrap the packages and prepare the ornaments for the tree,” said EC teacher Rebekah Williams. “This was something really special for them.”

Miller said every club and class worked hard to make the food drive successful. Interact and the McMichael Student Council also pitched in to ring the bell for Salvation’s Army’s annual kettle fundraiser.

“We forget a lot of times how generous our young people can be,” Miller said. “They really care about getting involved in their community and lending a helping hand to others in need.”

Many local churches also provide special events and programs to the community during the holidays. One of the annual events at Mayodan First Baptist dates back many years and involves a little singing and a lot of Christmas cheer.

“It’s a tradition that goes back a long time with this congregation. It started before I got here,” said Wendy Crow, First Baptist’s minister of youth and education for 10 years.

Each year, the church makes treat bags for shut-in members and others in the community unable to attend special holiday services. Last Wednesday, about 40 members — ranging in age from 5 to “senior” status — formed into groups to deliver the bags around the community. Each group took a route list, a box of treat bags and a merry spirit of Christmas to the families on their list. They also delivered some Christmas cheer in the form of music.

“We got a lot of smiles for our Christmas caroling, but at least no one asked us to leave,” said Jimmy Webster. “We had a lot of fun, even if we didn’t always provide the best musical performance. I know it gave us a little lift to make the visits and I hope it helped lift their spirits a little too.”