Hawkins School Toy Drive

Sadly many students at Hawkins School in Newark do not receive presents under the tree Christmas morning. Luckily Verona High School collects toys to give out to the kids. The Student Council headed down to the school on December 19 to deliver the toys.  

Students and teachers are asked to bring in a wrapped gift for either a girl or boy ranging from 3 to 10 years old. Senior Mike Daggett dressed up as Santa to hand out the gifts to the kids.

The process for collecting the toys requires lots of time and dedication. During lunch, after school, or on the Student Council’s free time they start to count the gifts and  put them in bags for each class at Hawkins School. Mr Thai, who is the Student Council advisor, gets a roster of all the kids at the Hawkins School so they know how many gifts they need. When they get to Hawkins they unload all of the gifts into the library. Mr. Thai then hands out a schedule of what classes they are going to go and visit.  The VHS students who make the trip spend the whole school day handing out gifts to make sure everyone receives one.

Collections for the toy drive began on November 27 and within a little less than a month over 700 toys were collected – more than was needed – which allowed for some extra presents to be left at Hawkins School for kids that do not get any presents. The Student Council also left presents at the community center to be donated to other organizations.

Student Council member Senior Julia Cambreleng said “It was so inspiring to see how happy these kids are when they receive just one present. It made me realize how thankful I am to have a family who cares about me and for all the things that I have.”

VHS plans to keep on doing this toy drive for many years to come. During the holiday times it is always good to give back and what is better than giving little kids toys? Thank you to everyone who donated toys and took time out of their busy holiday schedule to make someone else’s day!