BY CHARLIE BLODNIEKS
With wide smiles and eyes on the brink of tears, the children at one local sexual assault treatment center feel the giving spirit of the holiday season.
From now until December 8th, the Student Government Association will be running a project to get Cooper City High School students involved in giving back to their community, bringing about once again their ‘adopt-a-child’ holiday party. Teachers were given the option to participate in having their students fulfill the wish lists of one of 25 children being treated at the local center.
One organization, the National Honor Society, has been working hard to fill the entire list of the child they adopted. Vice President Melanie Smith gave insight into NHS’ decision to partake.
“A big part of our club is community service, but the SATC adopt-a-child project has always been important to us because we get to help make a child smile despite the circumstances they’re going through,” Smith said. “The world would be a better place if everyone could smile more.”
Efforts like this are not isolated. Around the school, dozens of teachers are working together to help create a unique holiday experience for the children being treated.
“Quite a few of my teachers are participating, and everyone is doing what they can to bring the holiday spirit to kids in really unfortunate situations,” Senior Gabrielle Fickinger said.
While teachers and students only know their child by first name, the gift-giving can feel extremely personal to some students who have the opportunity to plan and attend the capstone holiday party which will occur on December 15th.
Junior Jessica Less, who was in attendance last year, says that it was an experience like no other.
“Seeing the smile on the kids’ faces was something that I’ll always remember,” Less said. “It was an amazing feeling to know that we helped make someone else’s holidays better.”
Senior Nicole Tjin a Djie had a similar experience.
“When the kids got there, the place just turned into this very moving [holiday] celebration,” Tjin a Djie said. “It was one of the most incredible days. There were so many kids there that you knew wouldn’t have had this otherwise.”
With such extraordinary experiences, many SGA members are urging students to donate all they can to the project.
“Even the smallest [donation] for some of these kids, even just taking the time to go to the dollar store to get something, is so rewarding,” Tjin a Djie said.
Teachers may choose to collect donations in either the form of cash or the toys themselves to fill the wish list. These donations go directly to the children at the center and all gifts must be turned in to SGA by December 8th.
