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 into vans, buses and trucks that will then be distributed to children in need for the holidays.
Erica Maira, who works in the school’s guidance office, has been the advisor for student council the last four years. The toy drive is a favorite of hers and many of the kids in student council.
“The amount of toys varies year to year with families moving into the area or moving away, but it’s always great to do as much as we can,” Maira said.
Student council president Russell Bauer and members Peter Moody and Rebecca Dean were just a few of the Seneca students helping pack the toys that were collected in November and earlier this month.
Students from 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. 4. Representatives from The Arc of Burlington County, Christian Caring Center and the Camden Pre-school Program 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 700 children.
Bethany Christian Services took part in the event at Seneca for the first time. Debbie Padden, with Bethany, says the organization will be throwing a holiday party for foster children across the greater Delaware Valley.
Jane Wenstrom came to the drive on behalf of the Octavius V. Catto Community School in Camden. This is Wenstrom’s 17th 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’ll distribute these toys to 442 preschoolers this year.”
For Maira and the rest of the student council, reading the letters from those receiving the toys makes 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.”
