Bright and  early on Tuesday, the first week of Christmas break, our school’s Spirit Club  took the school’s van to embark on their journey of  Holiday compassion. I just so happened to be one of the “privileged” members ( as Mrs. Campbell would say) of five others : junior Kari Orlowski, sophomore Nhi Dang, senior Chris Ceccato, and senior  Sarah Litwin.  Mrs. Higgins and Mrs. Campbell were the supervisors of the event.

Our first trip was to the food pantry on George Urban Blvd. We were greeted by an elderly man who happened to be wearing a mask (I’m sure for medical reasons). We dropped off approximately two hundred can goods from our Soup for Snack drive.

After our delivery, we took off to Wal-Mart in Hamburg to shop for our Christmas family. We learned from our advisors that the family ’s children go to our school.  It was all we needed to know: one of our own in need of a joyous Christmas. We were on a budget of 150 dollars per family member. And so after given our list, we were off.

Our journey didn’t stop there.  Right after our shopping-spree we headed to Dollar Tree. There we got little gifts for the the elderly ladies and gentlemen at Garden Gates Manor, a Cheektowaga retirement home. The advisors bought boxes and wrapping paper as well.

We had our lunch break at the Warehouse  Pizzeria ( on Mr. Schlotterbeck’s recommendation). The place was a virtual sports haven, filled with flat screen TVs, decorative barrels of rum and stacks of aligned bottles of beer.

We drove back to school and got right to wrapping the gifts were had brought for the family. Right up to the last strenuous minute we completed what we have ventured out to do: bringing a little compassion and a little holiday spirit to the ones that need it most.  We all felt great. Who wouldn’t feel a sense of satisfaction after doing something selfless. It was a great accomplishment.

So the trip was better than I had perceived. Mrs. Campbell was right: the trip turned out to be a privilege and fun.  After all,  it did beat off  the norm of heading to classes.