Bless their hearts: These American students spread Christmas cheer by giving

25 Dec 2017

You’ve got to bless their young, pure hearts.

From sending food baskets to collecting donations, students all over are going above and beyond to make sure the needy get to celebrate Christmas just as joyfully and as festive as everyone else.

Student-run non-profit donates 210 Christmas meals https://t.co/gIT3CDVcJ7 pic.twitter.com/S4mzxUb0nw

— WWL-TV (@WWLTV) December 24, 2017

In New Orleans, United States, local children helped package and deliver the boxes to families in need through a programme called Hams For Fams, WWLTV reported. The group, which was founded and is run by students, has been delivering food packages to families during Christmas since three years ago. In their first year, they delivered boxes full of food to 20 families. This year, they did the same for 210 families.

Student Ben Brodnax said:

“It’s a true blessing to be able to do this.”

In a slightly different manner but no less generous, students from the Energetic Learning Campus in Alaska worked together in a festive fundraiser over several weeks to collect cash, gift and hamper donations.

Teacher Jerrick Salinas said the students went “above and beyond” in their fundraising, from knocking on doors to homes and businesses to organising a student-vs-teacher basketball tourney. One even pledged to wax his legs if he could hit his donation target.

“Everyone went above and beyond,” Salinas said, as quoted by Alaska Highway News. “They found every penny they could wherever they could.”

Thanks to their effort, each family will unwrap a gift including a turkey, groceries with all the fixings, treats, and more, along with US$850 in gift cards, and gift-wrapped presents, according to the family’s needs and size.

‘Make me cry’

In a heartwarming video posted on Facebook by one Michigan student, ten students gifted their school custodian, Brian Junk, a brand new pair of work boots to thank him for always going “above and beyond for us”, HuffPost reported. They had noticed Junk after school and saw that his work shoes were “pretty beat up”

“You guys are gonna make me cry,” responds Junk.

“Thank you. Man oh mighty, I need some really bad.”

The video, which was filmed by 18-year-old student Kenna Hermanson of Garden City High School to show members of the group who couldn’t be there, has since gone viral with more than 182,000 views and 1,300 shares at the time of writing.

Hermanson, who uploaded the video, wrote on her Facebook that Junk was “one of the sweetest people I know” and thanked him for “always putting a smile on everyone’s faces during school.”

Gifts aren’t the only way to spread cheer this festive season. Students at Northwood Elementary in Texas surprised their former teacher Fred Fisher on his driveway with Christmas carols. Fisher, who had served in the Air Force, is battling colon cancer and currently undergoing chemotherapy, according to KSAT.

To see this display, Fisher said, “just validates what you’re doing in the classroom.”

Reyna Stovall, 14, had come up with the idea, said: “He’s been such an inspiration to all of us, and it was our turn to give something back to him”.