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Martin Co. West FFA keeps on giving

Christmas is a joyous celebration for those who observe it. Though heavily commercialized and often denigrated, at its core remains a simple truth: giving is the best gift of all.

Keeping that spirit alive, Martin County West FFA students recently went shopping for their annual Maverick Christmas project.

According to MCW ag teacher Stephanie Wohlhuter, school counselors and social workers send letters out to families on the free and reduced lunch list. If the families choose to participate, they are able to submit ideas for clothing their children need, as well as toy ideas. The high school FFA shops for the gifts and the junior high FFA wraps them.

Wohlhuter explained that the event has been around for some time.

“It’s been probably over 15 years,” she said. “They were doing a version of it when I first came back to Martin County West. It’s kind of changed over the years, but its been a pretty long-standing tradition.

“It started out where the kids would come with ideas like Maverick clothing or something like that that we would purchase for the families. We changed it over the years to involve our high school FFA members in the actual shopping. I think that part of it has been excellent for our kids because they actively get to be involved in selecting gifts, and I appreciate that the kids are active and involved.”

Wohlhuter described how the process works.

“The families have to meet certain criteria and then they submit their ideas for clothing and other gifts, then the counselors put it all together and get codes for every single family,” she said. “Then we get note cards with a code on it and the age of the kid and ideas for gifts. On Wednesday, we shopped for about 60 kids in our school district.”

She noted how much students enjoy the experience.

“We ask for volunteers and we usually have more than we need,” she said. “They spend a lot of time trying to find the right gift, so they’re looking around the store and trying to find something that fits perfectly.

“We have some parents that come in and work with them. They give them some ideas or help with sizes of toddler and baby clothes, because sometimes the kids aren’t very familiar with that. But it’s an event that they look forward to every year.”

Wohlhuter believes the event has a positive impact on the families they help.

“I never really get to see that side of it because that all gets handled through the school social workers, but we get notes back sometimes,” she said. “I think there are some kids that may not have gotten much for gifts, and so to have a couple of gifts under the tree is pretty significant for some families.”

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