On Thanksgiving Day, a group of Interact club members served at Manna soup kitchen on Main Street. Students helped set up, serve and clean up. ‘This event was important because on a day where we are all thankful for what we have, it’s important to give back to the less for­tunate,’ said co-president of the club, junior Sa­sha Kurumety. The Interact Club also helped at the STARS Christmas Party for the disabled on Dec. 12 by assisting with food and drinks and dressing festively for pictures. On Dec. 13, the club again contributed by making scarves for the Mitzvah circle, an organization that collects supplies for those in need in Lansdale.

MHS’s two Relay for Life teams, Ribbon War­riors and Warriors H2O, raised a total of $697for the American Cancer Society by car­oling on Dec. 17. Members of both teams went door-to-door singing Christmas carols and then asking for donations.’ Caroling Against Cancer is an important event because it bonds two teams together and also spreads some fes­tive cheer while fund-raising for Relay. It really helps my team members realize that Relay is a widespread community, not just our own team that is fighting against cancer,’ said Emily Ma, co-president of Ribbon Warriors.

In addition to collecting cans for Hurricane Sandy relief and participating in the Adopt-A-Family fund raiser, by adopting two families, the National Honor Society is also running its annual Faculty Cookie Drive. Each year, every NHS member brings in a dozen freshly baked, never- store-bought, cookies to give to the MHS faculty. After all the cookies are brought in, NHS members signup to package the cookies and then distribute them around the school.’ This isa great way to demonstrate to our teachers how thankful we are for devoting their lives to help better us,’ said NHS president Andrew Steven.

Family, Career,Consumer Leaders of America (FCCLA) held their annual Holiday Tea on Dec. 4, a tradition that has existed for over 35 years. During the entire month leading up to the event, FCCLA members made ornaments matching this year’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ theme to deco­rate the B-wing and the FCS suite. At the event members served MHS faculty different hot and cold appetizers.’ The holiday teais great because it is fun decorating and baking to thank the teachers,’ said co-president Kaitlyn O’Toole. In addition to the Holiday Tea, FCCLA also took on a family for Adopt-A-Family.

This year, German Club is participating in the Project Linus and the Ramen-ometer fund-rais­ers.For the Project Linus fund-raiser, members bring in skeins of yarn, which are then donated to retirement homes or to the Project Linus or­ganization itself,where the yarn is made into blankets for critically ill children. The Ramen-ometer fund-raiser aims to collect ramen to send to homeless shelters.’ It’s important to give back to the community especially when our fund raisers go to those less fortunate than us,’ said co-president Michael Schrack.

During the holiday season, the Tri-M gave back to the community with its Thanksgiving bas­ket fund-raiser and by participating in Adopt- A-Family. For the Thanksgiving dinner basket fund-raiser, club members collected donations to create the baskets, which essentially were Thanksgiving dinners in plastic tubs, as they in­cluded items such as full turkeys, canned beans, canned corn and cranberry sauce.’ It really shows the good side of humanity and how there are more people willing to help than willing to hurt,’ said club historian Dongjae Chang.

The Baking Club, a new organization estab­lished only last year by current senior Laura Brumbaugh, decided to make cookies to sell at a bake sale to raise money for charity. The pro­ceeds went to pancreatic cancer research. ‘One of my neighbors died of pancreatic cancer,and his wife was holding a bake sale to raise money for research, so I wanted to make something to contribute,’ said Brumbaugh.

Once again, the KeyClub decided to collect mon­ey for its annual Heifer International fund-raiser during the holiday season. Although they tra­ditionally sell ornaments to raise money for the organization, this year, they decided to try some­thing new. Between Dec. 11-13 and Dec. 18-20, Key Club members sold chocolate covered pret­zels to raise money for Heifer International.’ It’s always good to raise money for Heifer because it doesn’t just send money to those in need, but it sends animals to help them sustain themselves,’ said officer Kathy Lim.

The MHS Theatre Company also held a holi­day-related fund-raiser at Applebee’s on Dec. 15to raise money for the program. Member Bo Sayre dressed as Santa Claus to spread holiday cheer as people came to enjoy a pancake breakfast. ‘I do this event not only because it helps raise a lot of the money for our shows, but also because it’s a really fun event to participate in. I love seeing the kids get excited when they see Santa, dressing up, and all of us working together to make it run smoothly,’ said vice president Ashley Strohlein.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, Student Council collected about 50 boxes of canned goods during homeroom for Preston and Steve’s Campout for Hunger. The club also‘Adopts a Family’ in the community for the holiday sea­son, raising money sothey can give children ev­erything on their Christmas lists. They also sent boxes of food to the same families. Student Coun­cil secretary Allie Torrisi said that she thinks it is important to help those in need, especially during the holidays. ‘We are happy we can help give the families a better holiday with just a little less stress,’ she said. After the money is collected and the gifts purchased, Student Council mem­bers stay after school to help wrap the presents. ‘It’s great to see everyone in the club care and do something to help others,’ said Torrisi.

For the holiday season, each Student Congress has ‘Adopted a Family’ in the Methacton School District as well. Members from each congress collected money from their grade-level home­rooms throughout a one-week time period. The money went to buy gifts such as food, clothing and toys for those families in need. Class of 2013 vice president Zita Hyon said that the club is try­ing to get the whole class involved in the club’s efforts.’ I believe that there is so much we can do just within our community or even school district to contribute to those less fortunate,’ she said.

Kids Against Crisis is doing its annual ‘You are a Gift to Me’ fund-raiser. The boxes are
hand-decorated and include candy, stickers, muffins, an ornament and bell necklaces. The boxes
cost $1 and can be sent to friends and teachers. All of the money made from the boxes goes to
the Meth­acton Emergency Fund, which is used to help heat homes of local families. Ananya
Anmangandla, it help people in the Methacton community, it helps people in communities around
the world.