The PCMS leadership students are on a mission.
That’s nothing new. The extra-curricular group plans community service projects, school dances and assemblies all year. They meet after school and on their own time to reach their goals.
But the holidays present a new challenge to the club. They want every kid in Pershing County to open Christmas presents next month. That takes money.
The students took a first step toward funding their goal on Tuesday. They held a bake sale in the Safeway parking lot.
Cassidie Fuller advises the sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
“They baked all the goodies,” she said gesturing toward a table full of cookies and brownies. Several students worked the counter, bundled up against the November chill.
Others stood on the corner with signs. They shouted to motorists driving home from work or school.
“Bake sale!”
Many shoppers stopped to top off their grocery carts with sweet treats.
“We’re raising money for our local Angel Tree,” explained Fuller.
Angel Tree applications are available at Lovelock City Hall, Wells Fargo and Nevada State Bank. Families in need of help with gift-giving have until Dec. 8 to return their paperwork.
Volunteers decorate the Angel Trees with descriptions of each child, including their age and gender, as in, “a four-year-old girl” or a “12-year-old boy.”
Community members shop for each child. It takes a village. Luckily, the leadership group extends from middle through high school. Buzz Brooks advises the ninth through twelfth grades.
“Both the middle and high school leadership classes raise money to buy gifts,” said Fuller. “We’ll travel to Walmart in Fernley next month to shop. The advisors mix the high school and middle school students. Each group gets $100 to spend on one child.”
First, they purchase items the child might need. Then, they think about less practical but fun gifts.
Finally, both groups meet in the PCMS lunchroom to wrap jackets, school supplies, socks, gloves, dolls, footballs, toys and games.
“It’s neat to watch the kids interact,” said Fuller.
Last year the leadership classes raised about $1,300 – enough to buy gifts for thirteen Angel Tree recipients.