Aborn School to continue tradition of giving to Item Santa

LYNN – This holiday season, the Aborn Elementary School in Lynn will once again embark on what has become a December tradition at the school, collecting spare change and donations from students, parents and faculty that they will donate to needy families in the city through the Item Santa campaign.The generosity of the Aborn School generates hundreds of dollars each year for the Item Santa effort, which in conjunction with the Salvation Army helps to provide needy families in the area with toys and clothing to place under the tree on Christmas Day.”What we do is send out a notice to parents that says ‘in lieu of gifts for teachers, we will be accepting donations for Item Santa,'” said Aborn Principal Anne Graul. “We usually do pretty well, we raise a few hundred dollars every year. The kids will bring in money, we have a big pickle jar with wrapping paper on it that goes around to faculty.”The Aborn is one of many schools, businesses and private donors that have collectively helped the Item raise over $100,000 for 12 consecutive years, something organizers are hoping to duplicate in 2008 despite a slumping economy.The effort in the Lynn Public Schools takes on heightened importance each year, as many of the children putting their pennies in pickle jars are the same children whose parents or siblings have written letters to Item Santa asking for donations.One example is 10-year-old Joseph, a fifth grader in the Lynn Public Schools who wrote to Item Santa this year with a familiar story.Living with a single parent struggling to work two jobs and take care of three children, Joseph asked for help not just for himself, but for his family, too.His 3-year-old sister, Allison, would love nothing more than to have a new SpongeBob SquarePants Sno Cone Maker or his 7-year-old brother Travis who loves baseball, but is not sure his undersized glove will make it through another year.For Joseph, who unselfishly asked that donors consider his mother and siblings before they consider him, asked for a LEGO Star Wars action set so that he can add to his collection of LEGO models.Like last year, requests for help from Item Santa were accepted up until Thanksgiving, and applicants with supporting materials were submitted directly to the Salvation Army Lynn barracks on Franklin Street.Click here to download a coupon to make a donation to Item Santa.For more information, call the Salvation Army 781-598-0673.