While students may have been the ones delivering gifts and decorations, they agreed they were the ones who received the best gift of all - feeling good about doing something kind for others.
“It makes me feel happy to see their smiles when we came in,” said Bryson Baranek, one of the Student Council members who spent part of Thursday afternoon handing out gifts to residents and putting up colorful decorations.
Although only a handful of students were part of the delivery and set up crew at Carveth, the entire middle school played a big part in making it all happen. All Middle School students were able to spend some time in the past weeks creating green and red paper chains, making holiday cards and cutting out the intricate giant snowflakes.
They also raised money to buy gifts. A penny war sparked great competition between the grade levels and many students paid a dollar to wear a holiday hat to raise funds to buy gifts.
Laura Nikkel, Student Council Advisor, said in all, they raised more than $300 that was used to purchase gifts like blankets, candy, ChapStick, puzzle books, slippers, socks, perfume and hand lotion.
Kayla Price was all smiles as she went from table to table in the dining room letting residents pick out a gift. “It just felt good. Some of them thought we were selling things, but we had to tell them they were gifts and they were free.”
“I love doing this. I love seeing them smile and knowing I’ve been able to help someone a little bit. It’s the best feeling,” said Ben Reaser.
Nikkel said this Student Council project has been good for all the students. “The students have been really excited about it all and a lot of kids participated. They’ve been really wanting to do something for the community, but they just haven’t been able to do things like this for so long.”
She said the Student Council did a similar event for Carveth residents in 2021 but because of COVID the students weren’t able to actually go in and deliver the gifts or decorate.
“Middle school students respond very well to opportunities like this to get involved. They want to help. They want to give back. This is so good for them and you can see it in their smiles how much they are enjoying this.”