Pickering students push Toys for Tots effort over the top

LYNN – In the wake of a possible shortage of donations for the Lynn Fire Department’s annual Toys For Tots drive, Pickering Middle School Students came through with a toy store’s worth of gifts this holiday season, assuring that families in need will have toys to pass along to their children. In all, the over 600 students at the middle school donated over 250 toys to Toys For Tots, which it donated to the Fire Department Friday.”Pickering is responsible for our largest single donation each year,” said Firefighter Tim Lawrence. “Every year we think we aren’t going to make it to our goals and they come bail us out every year. They go above and beyond everyone else.”The Fire Department’s Toys For Tots drive is among the largest in Essex County, and receives donations from schools and private citizens alike. This year, Fudrucker’s Restaurant in Saugus donated a box truck to the effort to help the firefighters collect all of the toys.Pickering students have been involved in several charities throughout the holiday season, including a can drive and a large donation made to the Item Santa fund. When donating to Toys For Tots, students said they did much of their shopping themselves, and also received help from friends and family.”It makes you feel good – you are inspired by other people to help out,” said seventh grader Daniel Donovan. “One of the toys I donated was supposed to be my Christmas present, and I gave it up.”Principal Robert Murphy has been preaching the need to give back to the community throughout the year, and says it is important for students to realize that charity work is something more than a community service requirement when they get to high school.”There is more to be learned about life than what is in a text book,” he said. “Their efforts have been outstanding. We have done a lot of charity work here. These are lessons that they can bring with them to high school.”Students said they felt good giving back, and were inspired to help others in their community by seeing other needy children in and around their school.”It is good to help other people that don’t have the same things that you have,” said eighth grader Sarah Cowdell. “It makes you think about the kids that wake up with nothing and the kids that don’t even have a Christmas tree.””For people that don’t have anything, it is nice to have something,” added eighth grader Lindsey Walsh. “Everyone gets caught up in ?my gift is better than yours’ when other people are just happy to have something to open.”Teachers Lois Cole and Kathy Coman organized the toy drive, and a number of students worked particularly hard on the project, going from classroom to classroom every morning to collect toys. Those students are Leonardo Torres, Jessie Cabrera, Shawn Clegg, Ronald Allen, Jake Michalski, Javier Rivera-Rodriguez and Sokinali Than-Ngeth.