Giving back in droves

Each year, Share the Spirit collects gift tags from families across the valley who are in need of a little boost during the holiday season. The tags are distributed to trees to be picked up by anyone who wants to help.

In times like these, the number in need was up. Below are a few of the stories showing how area students chipped in to give back,  proving tough times can  bring out the best.

Ronan High School

The spirit of giving has touched people across Lake County and Ronan High School is no exception. After raising money through their giving tree, the Ronan High School student council visited Wal-Mart to buy for seven, anonymous kids.

“We split up into groups and were assigned a kid and bought for them,” RHS senior Abby Luke said. “We had about $50 to spend on each kid.”

Everyone agreed sharing the spirit was a great cause.

“It was a good thing they gave us sizes,” RHS junior Alice VanGunten said. “Otherwise it would’ve been really hard.”

Last year, the student council took on two families to sponsor, but this year they had one family with seven kids, Luke said.

“It was a special opportunity to do something special for other people this season,” she said.

Mission Middle School

Last Wednesday morning, there was a rumbling through the aisles of the Polson Wal-Mart. Twenty-six middle school students from St. Ignatius Middle School combed the shelves looking for the perfect gifts to give 20 local kids a merry Christmas.

“It was great to be able to support families that wouldn’t get anything for Christmas,” Chris Ocks, an eighth grader at St. Ignatius said.

This was the best year they’d had, Dorothy von Holtum, a teacher’s aide at St. Ignatius said.

The students made and sold Christmas wreaths to raise money to buy the gifts.

“When they started, they thought they should get to keep the money,” von Holtum said. “By the time the project is done, it’s very personal for all of them. They know they’re making a special Christmas for someone.”

St. Ignatius Middle School has been running this program for several years, Valerie Umphrey, a teacher at the middle school, said.

It began when a student asked Umphrey why the Christmas tree at a bank had tags on it.

“I explained that it was for kids who didn’t have any presents,” Umphrey said. “And the student was really affected by it, she almost cried.  She said we had to do something about it.”

So, Umphrey’s classes began working on projects to raise money to buy presents for kids.

“The ironic thing is, the student that started all of it was definitely someone who would’ve been on the tree,” Umphrey said.

The students hand made the wreaths using fresh boughs they collected on a field trip earlier in the season, von Holtum said.

“By the end, they were really good at it,” she said. “They could make a wreath in half an hour.”

This definitely makes me appreciate what I do have, Dalton O’Hern, an eighth grader, said.

“It was a lot of fun to go shopping,” Katie Hogge, also an eight grader said. “Especially since we were buying for kids who wouldn’t have presents.”

A favorite purchase for the students was a red bicycle and helmet for one of the kids on the list, von Holtum said.