Holiday drives help West Essex give back

Numerous clubs and organizations at West Essex are giving back to the community this holiday season, through food and toy drives spanning from the beginning of November to the end of December.

The Key Club and National Honors Society are working together to bring back their annual holiday toy drive from Nov. 19 to Dec. 14. They are collecting new, unwrapped toys to donate to Big Brother/Big Sister, the Salvation Army and local churches in the West Essex area. Students wishing to participate can drop toys to room 729, room 204 or the main office. NHS advisor and forensics teacher Daniela Colabelli said that she believes donating to the toy drive, as well as to all of those in need, is extremely important during the holiday season.

“I think it’s important for students to take the opportunity to think of others less fortunate than them during this holiday season,” Ms. Colabelli said. “Since most students are fortunate enough to celebrate the holidays, they should help everybody else be able to celebrate them too.”

In addition to donating toys for the holiday season, the Cooking for a Cause club held a Thanksgiving turkey drive on Nov. 18 at West Essex in order to collect turkeys for the Saint Thomas More Church in Fairfield and Toni’s Kitchen in Montclair. Multiple club members showed up to assist with the donation process, leading the club to collect almost 70 turkeys and numerous boxes of canned goods to donate to these two organizations.

“I think so many people in this community are lucky enough to live in such as nice area,” junior Cooking for a Cause president Gillian Wolf said. “Being able to help the less fortunate feels good, especially during the holidays.”