Superior students purchase Christmas gifts for local kids
Olivia McGauthy-White, Penelope McGauthy-White, Matthew Hendricks and Lillie Radell, 4th Grade Students of Mrs. Stacy Crabb went Christmas shopping for other children in Mineral County with $75.75 each using the money their class raised for this annual community service event.
Mrs. Crabb’s fourth-grade students Olivia McGauthy-White, Lillie Radell, Penelope McGauthy-White and Matthew Hendricks were helped by Mineral Pharmacy employee Nathan LaPierre Christmas shopping for toys for children with the record amount of money their class raised in just a bump over two weeks.
The work it takes each year behind the scenes of Santa and his elves making their holiday deliveries of food and toys to families in Mineral County before Christmas Day involves more people and organizations than one may realize.
One of those groups is the fourth-grade class of Stacy Crabb at Superior Elementary School. They are a driving force of supplying the toys for the kids that will be receiving them.
“We challenged the elementary classrooms to collect coins and the winning class would receive an ice cream party. The students raised a total of $1,126.33! That's a record”, she beams.
Crabb and her students have been doing this community service project for the last 10-12 years and this year’s record amount was completed in just over two weeks. On Dec. 9, this enthusiastic bunch of fourth-graders loaded onto a school bus and went to downtown Superior.
“Fifteen students shopped, and every kid had $75.75 to spend at one business: Durango’s, Mineral Pharmacy, or at Darlows Quality Foods. They could buy for 0 to 17-year-olds, girls or boys”, she explains.
The kido-shoppers stayed on the bus while Crabb would take three or four into each business at a time to harness the craziness of the day. Kelann McLees, Clerk and Recorder, oversaw the application drop-off and she did let the kids know that gifts for boys ages 7-plus were needed if they wanted to shop for that age group, but they were free to purchase for anyone.
Once the shopping was completed, they delivered the gifts to the Superior Volunteer Fire Station where Fire Chief Steve Temple gave them a tour of the station, fire trucks and a talk about community service.
The LIONS Club and their wives, Women in Timber, and other community members will wrap everything and then gifts will be delivered Saturday, Dec. 18 by Santa and a few of his choice elves (LIONS Club members).
And along with these surprises for the children there will be a turkey and all the trimmings for each family to have a wonderful Christmas meal.
“The class learns how great it feels to give back to the community and about the benefits of shopping locally to help the local economy”, smiles Crabb.
Women in Timber started this over 40 years ago and then the Superior LIONS came on board by doing the deliveries with 3 separate teams to cover the county. Fundraising for this annual event is an ongoing effort and the need for this project never seems to decrease.
