As the holiday season has come to a close, students at Marriotts Ridge celebrated values of kindness and giving. To commemorate the season, the National Honors Society at MRHS started the toy drive. The event ran during the week of December 4-8, and was aimed at giving toys to the less fortunate.
For the fundraiser, students were asked to donate toys, which were collected and tallied by the NHS. “The toys will be collected, wrapped, and donated in our local area,” stated senior and NHS member Atharv Nadkarni.
Proceeds were donated to The New Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Baltimore, as well as Toys for Tots, a program run by the United States Marine Corps, which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy gifts. The 3rd period class who donated the most toys was promised a free Chick-fil-A meal during school as a reward. Before the event began, NHS board members reflected on last year’s toy drive results.
“Considering last year’s record-breaking amount of donated toys, I know it’ll take a lot to top, but I feel like we have a good shot at setting a new record this year. A lot of classrooms seem to have lingering senses of competition from last year, fueling their drive to donate,” senior and NHS board member Joel Kim predicted.
Classes across Marriotts Ridge donated a total of 2,808 toys during the span of the event, beating the MRHS all-time toy donation record of 2,352 toys from the previous year.
The clear victor was Ms. Littmann’s 3rd period Spanish class, who greatly outclassed the competition, with 781 toys donated. Runners up were Mr. Rawlings and Ms. LeChevet’s 3rd period classes, donating 291 and 271 toys respectively. NHS board members thought about how the event’s promised reward of Chick-fil-A could have motivated students to break the record and donate more toys this year. “[I think Chick-fil-A was a good reward because] food, especially free food is a common ground that students of varying grades will enjoy,” Nadkarni stated. Beyond free food and competitive spirit, students can also be compelled to donate to improve a child’s holiday experience, which can give them a more positive outlook on Christmas and other holidays. “For children, I think a large part of the holiday joy comes from the suspense and excitement they feel as they receive and open gifts. I think fundraisers, such as Toys for Tots encapture this idea very well, as they provide opportunities for children to directly experience such joyous moments with the wide variety of toys that are given, [all improving a child’s holiday experience],” Kim commented. In retrospect, fundraisers like the toy drive can develop a sentiment of giving, bonding and goodwill within Marriotts Ridge, which will hopefully continue to flourish as we go into winter break and leap forward into the new year.