Schools
Holiday Drive Seeks Gifts for Madison's Needy
ROAR campaign provides needed items as well for the community.
A few requests remain on ROAR’s holiday gift board at , the focus of a charitable gift drive where high school families can provide a special gift for someone in the community.
This year, gift requests for 30 families were pinned to a board at the high school entrance, ten more families than last year, said Leslie Gentile, a special education teacher and one of two faculty advisers for ROAR, a service club. Suzanne Monkemeier, a science teacher, also advises the group and is one of the founders.
The holiday drive is the most important activity of the year and means a lot to the recipients. Some of the requests are more pragmatic than luxury, like a double laundry basket from Target.
Other requests yet to be filled include an electric knife, Amazon gift cards, a New York Giants T-shirt, New York Jets sweatshirt, slippers adult size 8, a skateboard for a 12 year old boy, a T.J. Maxx gift card and gift cards from the Livingston Mall.
Gentile said the gift recipients are suggested by the school nurse, teachers and other sources. “We have our ways,” she said. “We’re like Santa.”
ROAR can accept the gifts up until Friday, Dec. 16, Monkemeier said. Students will wrap the presents for delivery after that.
“Christmas is a great time of year,” said Natalie Wynne, junior. “It's nice to give back and help the less fortunate.” Another junior, Ali Costikyan, said that helping people “in our own community is always nice.”
The drive is done independently by high school students and their advisers and is not a part of the Madison Eagle Christmas Fund, said Gentile. Cash donations will be applied to gift requests. For more information or to donate, contact the high school at 973-593-3117.
ROAR is a school community arm connected to the Student Council and has about 20 members, according to Gentile, sometimes hosting group discussions “in which students can discuss any issues they feel necessary,“ according to the Madison public schools website.
Besides collecting holiday gifts in December, the group has organized sweatshirt drives, collections for local food pantries and one year procured unclaimed bikes from the to give to students at the elementary schools.
