Held by the National Honors Society, MRHS Toys for Tots took place December 2nd through the 6th. The donation drive allowed students to bring in toys into their third period classes, which were then collected by the NHS executive board and their members. The annual drive of holiday spirit allows for nearby communities to receive toys under their tree, as the toys are donated to The New Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Baltimore.
“I think donation rewards definitely motivates students who don’t know what it is like. So even if they can’t relate to those on a financial level, they can still be motivated to help their community,” junior Aubrie Cunningham shared.
While this donation drive is about MRHS students spreading holiday cheer, it helps that there is an incentive to donate the most toys. The winning class is rewarded with a free Chick-fil-A breakfast for the entire class, encouraging students to bring in toys. In addition to this, NHS members can use this drive to earn credits, being able to earn up to six to eight credits depending on their grade.
“I donated to give toys and also for NHS credits. I think the drive is a great way to incentivize students to donate to a good cause. It’s something that the whole school can participate in and the prize makes it fun,” senior and NHS member Natalie Shin said
NHS credits and other rewards does indeed provide motivation, but most importantly, it introduces students to the act of giving and perhaps convinces them to continue donating outside of these drives. For NHS executive board members, it is an opportunity to be a leader, as they instruct others on how to collect and count the toys.
“We all work together to go classroom to classroom each day during third period to collect toys and bring them to Ms. Reier,” senior and NHS executive board member Rory Taylor explained.
There is typically a large variety of toys donated by the students; however, there are definitely some popular toys that get donated the most, as well as floors and classes that have more toys than others.
“I’ve seen a lot of Play Dough and balls to play with. Usually the second and third floors have the most toys. Mr. Flynn’s class always brings in a lot, but any class can catch up and take first place,” senior and NHS executive board member Aleena Jayan shared.
However, some say there are other classes that donate more.
“My class is a little interesting, but Mr. Khouri is very on top of [the donations] and very encouraging about it so I think he is inspiring a lot of the kids that might have not donated otherwise,” Cunningham said.
The efforts the NHS board made throughout the week were able to be showcased the morning of December 6th on Fox 45. The board was shown packing up toys in their spirit wear, while Jaya Shelat was interviewed about the drive.
“I think they fully captured the message of Toys for Tots, which is giving back to those who are less fortunate in our community,” senior and NHS executive board member Jaya Shelat stated.
After a week of donations and competitions, Toys for Tots proved to have another successful year of toy collection, gathering over 2.5 thousand toys to donate, with Mr. Shim’s class being the winners of the Chick-fil-A breakfast. MRHS celebrates another successful year of spreading joy through a program that extends holiday spirit to all members of our community.
