As students enter the school building, boxes of canned foods and clothing are often scattered in front of the main office. Morning announcements showcase ongoing volunteer drives and flyers are usually plastered around the school with upcoming fundraisers. Now, during the holiday and winter season, these services to the community are crucial for helping those in need.
Within the school, a plethora of clubs are service-oriented. These clubs, such as Families4Families, Homeless Helpers Club, So What Else? and National Honor Society (NHS), participate in activities such as writing letters to those in need, hosting fundraisers and holding drives.
Holiday drives in particular are a popular activity because of their impact locally. At school, coat drives are usually overflowing with coats and mass promotion is done to spread the word about these drives. The Montgomery County Volunteer Center (MCVC) hosts an annual Holiday Giving Project, where local non-profit organizations help more than 10,000 low-income families.
According to The National Desk (NTD), volunteering typically increases during the holidays. NTD said that especially during the months of November and December, “volunteering goes up 50%.” This can be attributed to the spirit of giving back and spreading joy that the holidays bring. Charities depend on donations during the holidays since the colder weather brings for the need of hats, coats and gloves.
AP Psychology teacher and NHS co-sponsor Jennifer Bauer said that holiday drives that occur in the school directly help those within the Montgomery County community. Given NHS’ large club size, with around 195 members, charities and philanthropy organizations benefit from the large-scale donations. “We end up getting asked because [the club is] so massive; other groups want to borrow you guys. Two or three years ago, we aligned with Watkins Mill Elementary School, a Title I school that doesn’t have as much and then we [were] there to either tutor or give them supplies that their families might need,” Bauer said.
Students also find that the mutual relationship between giving and receiving items encourages people to donate items. “I like holiday drives because they give everyone a chance to give back to the community and it also gives everyone a chance to get something back from the community, so really it’s like a two-way relationship where it’s good on both sides,” junior Jasmine Rivas said.
Seeing the impact of these drives first-hand is rewarding, knowing that all donated items will be going to people who need it. “With my daughter’s Girl Scout troop, I’ve actually gone out and dropped off stuff at a homeless shelter and they were super grateful and they were showing me where it was all going to go, so that makes me more comfortable,” Bauer said.
Even though Christmas and the peak of the holiday season has passed, opportunities to give back are around year-long. Item drop-offs and volunteer work at non-profit organizations can be found on the MCVC and City of Rockville webpages.
