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Cottonwood Heights Journal

Cottonwood Elementary School Helps Provide Christmas for Kids in Need

Jan 04, 2016 01:11PM ● By Stephanie Lauritzen

By Stephanie Lauritzen

Cottonwood-Holladay - Students at Cottonwood Elementary School donated winter necessities and Christmas presents to the Fireman & Friends for Kids non-profit organization as part of their Friend to Friend November service project. Last year, Fireman & Friends for Kids helped over 520 children celebrate Christmas by taking them shopping for gifts and providing winter clothing. 

To help with their collection and fund-raising efforts, Cottonwood students collected cold weather necessities such as coats, gloves, hats, scarves and socks. Students and their families also gathered children’s books, sporting equipment, backpacks and money donations to help struggling families during the holidays. Cottonwood’s Friend to Friend Committee chose to support Fireman & Friends for Kids due to their involvement supporting refugees, special needs children, and underprivileged children.

“We thought it was a great way for kids to help other kids,” committee member Stacy Hansen said. 

To celebrate a successful project, the Friend to Friend Committee held as assembly on Nov. 20 to celebrate. The assembly included a visit from the Utah Jazz Bear as well as costumed superheroes that came to collect the student donations. Additionally, past beneficiaries spoke about their positive experiences with the Fireman & Friends organization, and a representative from the non-profit showed videos of children opening their Christmas presents from last year. 

The Friend to Friend Committee is part of the Cottonwood Elementary PTA program, which chooses different charities and organizations to support every November as part of Cottonwood’s educational philosophy to teach each student “values of quality and meaningful education, importance of family involvement, and generosity towards others.