Winter is often thought of as a time of giving, but some FHS students can not afford to purchase gifts. The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) created the Celebration of Giving program to help these students and their families around the holidays.
“The PTO does a great job of making it so people can just donate money, or if they want to take on a whole family they can help buy what that whole family needs,” guidance counselor Matt Swaim said.
Those who want to donate money should drop it off in the main office, make checks payable to FHS PTO and mark the envelope “Celebration of Giving.”
Anyone interested in sponsoring a child should contact [email protected]. The cost is roughly $150-180 per child. The money should be delivered to the main office by Dec. 11. If a sponsor buys gifts, they should be purchased at the Kohl’s on 96 Street.
“A lot of times the basketball team or certain clubs will volunteer to help take a family that’s been nominated and they’ll either donate the money or sometimes they’ll go purchase the items that were requested,” Swaim said.
To find out what families are in need, the guidance counselors ask for nominations from teachers and coaches who have noticed that a student is struggling.
<pstyle=”align:left”>
Those who want to sponser a child can find extra information and contacts here.
