Many people get the impression that all high school students do during the holiday break is lounge around and receive gifts.

However, several students are spending their time and money on giving back this holiday season.

Junior Jamie McVicker was one student who really got into the spirit of helping others.

McVicker planned for her youth group to pick up tree limbs around town after the destructive ice storm.

“My youth pastor and I both had the idea, so I talked to him to set it up,” McVicker said. “Kids from our youth group joined to pick up limbs for the elderly or disabled people at our church.”

There are many charities and volunteer opportunities to get involved in, and some students have been taking advantage of these opportunities.

Their reasons for getting involved are quite simple.

“I take a lot for granted,” senior Allie Houghton said. “This [the angel tree] was a way for me to give to kids who don’t have a lot.”

McVicker saw picking up limbs as a way to help others, and have a good time doing so.

“I think it’s fun to give,” she said. “I like to sacrifice my time, and see their [the people that I’m helping] reactions. It was fun because some of my friends were helping also, and we got brownies and cocoa.”

Some people get the impression that you have to sacrifice a lot of time to volunteer for organizations during the holidays. This, however, is not always the case.

“There were ten of us helping. We split up into two groups, and were out for about two and a half to three hours,” McVicker said.

There will always be students unwilling to get into the holiday spirit and sacrifice for the less fortunate, but many students are planning on doing so during this holiday break with various organizations.