Monroe Public School students have been busy this holiday season helping their fellow man, classmates and even animals.

The Arborwood Campus partnered with the Thrift Shop Association to adopt more than 60 families to help with Christmas gifts this year. They school referred families to the Shop with a Cop event held earlier this month. Staff members participated in the Arborwood Giving Tree where they adopted families at the school to buy gifts for this Christmas. Throughout the school year, Arborwood hosts food and clothing drives to help those in need. The school received support from several organizations and individuals. During the holidays, Elevate Church provided holiday meals for three families. Midway Products and the UAW also pitched in to help families have a happy holiday season.

Students at the Custer Campus have made Christmas cards for the troops while others were made for a sick child. The fifth and sixth grade choir will visit surrounding neighborhoods singing Christmas carols. Families were adopted through the St. Nick gift program and through community and private organizations. Custer student council hosted a food drive. Students made holiday placements and Christmas cards for residents at Wellspring Lutheran home. Students in Kelly Lake’s class have been doing Random Acts of Kindness throughout the school and in the community. Ms. Lake’s students have made cards for the Lutheran Home, ornaments for school bus drivers and blankets for the Monroe County Humane Society. The Parent Teacher Organization adopted a family at Custer 2. The Custer Sodexo group adopted a family. Staff at both schools also adopted families for the holidays. The school also received some kindness from the Knights of Columbus who donated more than 50 winter coats to the school for students.

At Manor Elementary, the school had a Good Deed Tree, which encouraged students to participate in good deeds at home and throughout the community. Students created Christmas cards for residents at Medilodge. The school hosted pajama day fundraiser with the money benefitting a Manor family. Students wrote cards to soldiers stationed overseas. The school also collected coats for a coat closet.

Raisinville Elementary students hosted a canned food drive, which was sponsored by teacher Mary Vincent. The food was delivered to the Salvation Army of Monroe County to be distributed to folks in need. Raisinville’s BFFs, or Birthdays for the Future collected money in lieu of presents, which was donated to a 9-year-old named Jose who lives in Quito, Ecuador through the Children’s International Charity. The money is used for school supplies, clothes, health care products and other items. In two months, the school collected nearly $400.

Waterloo Elementary students planned to go door-to-door Dec. 21 singing holiday carols to folks in the neighborhood. The school’s Parent Teacher Organization partnered with ProMedica to provide 11 Waterloo families with a holiday turkey dinner.

Students at Monroe Middle School crafted more than 500 letters to send to troops overseas. The school collected winter gear for the Trojan Closet, a clothing boutique inside of the school where students can select gear. Several groups hosted a penny war to benefit the Monroe Public Schools Promise Fund.

Monroe High School students helped more than a dozen local organizations through a variety of collections and drives during the holiday season. Each Trojan Family Time group hosted an activity to help their fellow man. Students collected food, toiletries, clothes and household goods to be donated to places like Oaks of Righteousness Christian Church/Oaks Victory Village, the Salvation Army of Monroe County, Family Counseling Services, Goodwill, Paula’s House, Philadelphia House and Monroe County Opportunity Program. Students collected food and toys to give to the Monroe County Humane Society and the Devoted Barn. Another room collected stuffed animals which were donated to Mott Children’s Hospital, Ann Arbor. One room made fleece tied blankets. Other rooms brought in canned food items to help stock the newly-created Trojan Food Closet, which benefits Monroe High School students and families. A number of rooms created holiday cards, which were sent to troops overseas. Others made cards for local nursing homes.

Orchard Center High School hosted a mobile food pantry Dec. 10 in conjunction with Monroe County Opportunity Program and Gleaners. With the help of volunteers from the district, food packages were donated to more than 125 families living in the community. For the past three years, Orchard Center High School has hosted a mobile food pantry prior to winter and spring breaks. On Dec. 21, the school’s choir group planned to visit a nursing home to sing Christmas carols. The students also created holiday cards, which will be delivered by the choir group that day.