DANVERS — Students and staff at Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School have donated hundreds of toys for children in need this holiday season through the school’s annual Hawk Holiday Hope drive.
This includes bikes, helmets, Bombas socks, stuffed animals and other gifts that will go to 185 children who are in foster care or whose family is receiving support from the state Department of Children and Families.
Thanks to the generous donations, each of these children will receive eight gifts from the event. This year’s drive also helped more children than ever before, Superintendent Heidi Riccio said.
“Part of our mission is not only to prepare the workforce, but to also make sure that these kids, when they grow up, understand the positive impact that giving through service has on their community and how it can really change the life of somebody else,” Riccio said.
This is the seventh year that the drive has been held at the school. Classes were assigned a child to buy for earlier this fall, and have since been working with their teachers to budget, plan and purchase the gifts.
The drive culminated with a school-wide assembly at Essex Tech on Friday morning. Representatives from the Department of Children and Families were there to accept the wrapped gifts while wearing festive holiday sweaters and bright smiles.
It was the first time the entire school has gathered together in person since the start of the pandemic, Riccio said.
“Despite our differences, whether it’s differences of opinion, differences of what we look like, different cultures, backgrounds, we all came together with one common purpose in mind and that was to serve others,” Riccio said. “It was refreshing. It was heartwarming. and it was truly awesome.”
The school is also giving gift cards to more than 50 of its students who are struggling this holiday season, Riccio said. She hopes all students took away something positive by being a part of the drive.
“We really hope that this event helps springboard them into their future and that their future includes serving others in some capacity,” Riccio said.
Caroline Enos may be contacted at CEnos@northofboston.com. Follow her on Twitter @CarolineEnos.