“It’s just so nice to give a gift to someone in your family and have it be a total surprise.”
“I like picking something out to buy that I think my dad will love to open.”
“It was so fun to shop without my parents or grandparents. Then the present was a secret for everybody.”
As adults we understand the joys of giving. Of spending time considering the gift and the recipient. Of anticipating the reaction and enjoying the surprise. It’s no wonder that our children want in on this action! The quotes above are from current and recently graduated Summit students talking about Summit’s Annual Holiday Gift Market. Every year, Summit volunteers create a shopping experience for our students. We transform the multi-purpose room into an eclectic gift shop featuring gifts for parents, siblings, grandparents and even pets!
Here’s how it works: for two days in December, the MPR (multi-purpose room) is magically transformed into a gift shop. Gift prices range from a quarter to a dollar, so kids come to school with around $5 and then get down to business. “Personal shoppers” help our kids select gifts, check out and wrap and tag their treasures. Fast forward to your holiday celebration and get ready for your surprise!
To pull this off, we need your help. We estimate it takes around 50-60 volunteer hours to make the Summit HGS work. We’d love your help setting up, shopping with the kids, wrapping gifts (don’t worry if you’re not a great wrapper…we use lots of gift bags!) and finally tearing down. And the benefit to you? Helping our kids pull off a holiday gift exchange they can be proud of (and that just might turn into an annual holiday story!)
“As a volunteer, I love interacting with the kids. Preschoolers are focused on the wonder of buying gifts all by themselves. First graders are looking for the best gift. The fifth graders are trying to use their money to their best advantage.”
How can you help? Two ways:
1) Volunteer your time! We need help setting up on Wednesday, December 10th, starting at 5:30PM. “Many hands make light work” and if we have a some great hands, we think we’ll have everything set up within an hour and a half. We also need personal shopping assistants, check-out help and gift wrappers on Thursday, December 11 from 8:40AM-2:30PM (with a break for lunch) and again on Friday, December 12 from 8:40-10:30AM and from 12:40-1:50PM. Stop by the front desk or email Molli (molli.cunningham@summitschools.org) OR look for the VolunteerSpot sign up form coming soon to your email box to sign up for a spot. Join us for as little or long as your schedule allows.
2) Make a donation: While we’ve got a small collection of gifts already, we can use more! Our goal, of course, is to have enough gifts so each child can purchase a gift for all of his/her immediate family members. If you have gently used, no longer wanted items (books, flashlights, decor, stuffed animals) or would like to donate a few new things (lotions/soaps, cards, candles, hot chocolate or other holiday foods/mixes) please drop them off at the front desk by Monday, December 8. If you’re short on collecting time and would like to donate cash, we’ll shop for you!
Thanks for being part of this Summit holiday tradition!
SUMMIT SCHOOLS 