This year a variety of groups at Roxbury High School helped to make the holidays bright for a number of people.
As in previous years, the World History classes at Roxbury High School participated in the Adopt-A-Family Program, which sponsors local families for the holidays. This year these classes sponsored a total of 17 families.
Each of the World History teachers received a “wish list” of basic needs from a local assistance director. The students in these classes then decided how much money they would need to collect in order to buy the requested items. The money was then collected for the items; students shopped for the requested gifts and finally wrapped them in class.
According to Mrs. Roxanne Dome, project coordinator for the Social Studies holiday charity projects, “Students really enjoy participating in this project, and disadvantaged Roxbury families who otherwise would not have a holiday celebration, have a wonderful day.”
In addition to the Adopt-A-Family program, students in grades 10 through 12 participated in a White Stockings project for runaway and throwaway teens. Covenant House in New York City sponsored this project.
Examples of items that were collected for this project include: Toiletries, combs, brushes, hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, socks, postage stamps, notepads, pens, pencils, books, tissues – just to name a few.
Last year, the students of Roxbury High School were able to collect enough items to fill 30 bags. This year the student body was able to fill 36 bags for these teens in need.
The RHS Student Council also conducted a service project during the holiday season. According to Kris Buss, Student Council Advisor, “The Student Council raised 743 new and unwrapped toys for the Morris County Pediatric Cancer Ward.” The Student Council also sponsored a blood drive for New Jersey Blood Services and is looking forward to sponsoring a second drive come the spring.
In Mrs. Linda Savino’s Careers Working with Children class, she and her students have been collecting household cleaning items. They will be making "start a home baskets" for the Interfaith Council for the Homeless in Morristown. In addition to this current project, Mrs. Savino and her students have collected items for Toys for Tots, Roxbury Social Services and Just for Babies.
Finally, the Multicultural Club also sponsored one of the Adopt-a-Families, as well as their own service project. This club collected personal care items, as well as fresh fruit for Senior Care bags. They collected enough items to fill 15 bags for women and 10 bags for men.
