Every year, the student council does their annual Angel Tree to raise money for gifts to give to children’s parents who don’t have the money to buy them for Christmas. This event every year has a big turnout from students who help raise money. Due to COVID-19, the student council has had to try to find new ways to raise the money safely for everyone to still be able to contribute. The student council usually sells candy bars to get the funding that they need for the Angel Tree.

   “Due to the pandemic, we usually sell chocolate bars to get some funding for Angel Tree,” Cathryn Malesh (11) said.

The student council cannot accept donations in person to ensure everyone’s safety, but the club found a way to get donations virtually.

   “As of right now we are relying solely on students and staff using our virtual website to donate. Also, due to the pandemic, we cannot hand out tags for the Angel Tree like we have done in the past. Nor can we accept in-person donations. Through our website, students are able to send the gifts directly to the Salvation Army,” Malesh said.

   The club is grateful to find a way to get donations safely to still help the cause they care so much about. To get the word out about the Angel Tree this year, the students created posters to put up around the school with QR codes to scan.

   “Our goal is to obtain gifts or raise money for children who are less fortunate. [Students] can then scan the QR code on our virtual poster that has been posted on our account. From there, they will have directions on what to do,” Malesh said.

   The gifts that the donors will give will be sent straight to the Salvation Army to ensure that it is clean and safe for the kids to receive.

   “Any donations and gifts will have to be sent directly to the Salvation Army instead of students turning it in at school,” Malesh said.

   The main priority for the club is to still be able to donate and give the children their presents that they look forward to every Christmas safely. The student council will be accepting donations for the Angel Tree from Nov. 1 to Dec. 14. 

   “Going off of last year, we had 1,000 tags. So we try to help as many as 1,000 [children] at least,” Malesh said.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Ms. Calderone [sponsor of student council] shows the students the hand outs with all of the information about the Angel Tree. She explained to the club that they need to make posters to get the information out to the rest of the school. “The service events have been shifted to online service, but students can still have hands-on creativity with advertisements and promotions,” Calderone said. Photo by: Jordan Znosko