Joy of Giving

Today at school we had a beautiful example of what it really means when we say there is joy in giving. Over the last few weeks, Mrs. Grothouse has led the charge like she does every year and ran our Toss a Toy program. Through various fund raising activities, Mrs G has motivated and inspired the staff and students here at Vantage to give to this wonderful cause. The very first fundraiser was the mani/pedi day we held at our school. Students can sign up to receive a manicure and/or a pedicure for a couple dollars and then they get out of a class for that day. This project raised $896.87 for purchasing toys. We also held a "change stall" day. This is where the students bring in any loose change they have and dump it on their teachers desk, causing the class to be "stalled" until all the change is counted. This project raised $1138.32 for purchasing toys. Each class also has a fund they can spend on various activities. They raise money throughout the year to have money in this fund. All the labs in total, donated $3166.82. Finally, the cosmetology program held a jeans day ($1. to wear jeans that day) and they sold hair extensions for $2 each. This project raised over $600.00. There was also a generous donation from a previous student that Mrs G had in class years ago. The grand total that our school raised was $6,632.67. Yesterday Mrs G and some of her "elves" went shopping to buy all the toys they could with that money. Well today, the stage in the commons area was filled to the brim with toys for the children in our area. What a beautiful site to see.

I would just like to say thank you to Mrs G for spearheading this program every year. However, she will be the first to tell you that this is not her or her class. This is the entire student body and staff here at Vantage. Every year they step up to the plate and hit a homerun. It always amazes her how generous and kind and caring the students are. Mrs G. was a little choked up as she spoke about the children that will receive these gifts. She stated that we will not see their faces when they get the gifts but all of us can know in our hearts that we made someones Christmas very special. And that is truly the joy of giving. Thank you all!