North Andover High School students are spreading some holiday cheer to their less fortunate peers.
Each class at the high school adopted at least one child who is either in the custody of the state Department of Social Services, or gets help from the agency. The students collected money from their classmates to buy gifts, said teacher Allyson DiGregory, who is a mentor to the student council.
The classes each elected two students to take the money and buy age-appropriate gifts, and bring them back to the school. The students collected nearly 500 gifts, DiGregory said.
“They did such a great job,” she said.
One lucky kid will get a new snowboard.
The presents will be distributed among 100 children in DSS custody around the state, up to the age of 17.
The student council orchestrated the gift drive, dubbed “Operation Donation,” according to DiGregory.
DSS has custody of approximately 8,000 children living in foster homes, 2,500 of those in group homes. The agency also gives services to 30,000 children who live with their parents, according to spokesman Richard Nangle.
Children wind up in DSS care because of domestic violence, abuse or neglect.
“For these children who had to be removed from their own families, the holidays can be a particularly sensitive time,” wrote Saf Caruso, executive director of the DSS Kids Fund, in a letter seeking donations. “A child may feel more alone or more poignantly feel that he or she is different from classmates and friends. Each gift lifts a child’s spirits and shows he or she is really part of a larger group of friends and a community that cares.”
DSS provides some donors with names, ages, clothing sizes and wish lists for children.
The DSS Kids Fund operates year-round, not just during the holidays. It collects financial donations and uses the money for things like clothes, toothbrushes, SAT prep courses, trips to summer camps, baby formula and computers — all to benefit the children.
Merrimack Valley
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Paul Bilodeau
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High-schoolers launch ‘Operation Donation’
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