Reagan Houpt ‘25
Dec 13, 2024
On Tuesday, December 3, the Rotary Club of Mercersburg hosted its annual Santa's Toy Box wrapping night at the local Methodist Church. Mercersburg Academy Peer Groups, students, and Rotary Club members joined together to wrap 1500 Christmas presents for roughly 200 children in the Tuscarora School District. For one hour, they wrapped, labeled, and organized various toys and clothes for the children to receive on Christmas Day.
This tradition originated approximately 15 years ago. “It has been going on since before I took over Peer Group 10 years ago,” said Director of Peer Group and Mentor Leadership, Betsy Cunningham. “Having lived in this community for 24 years and recognizing the level of food insecurity of this area, this event is an opportunity to give back in a really meaningful way.” Cunningham also noted that Santa’s Toy Box wrapping lets Mercersburg Academy students lend a hand to the Rotary Club members. “If you can get 100 kids down it means that fewer people in the Rotary have to stay late,” Cunningham added.
The gift-wrapping night was a memorable experience for participants as Peer Groups bonded over the shared struggle of wrapping unwieldy presents. Peer group leader Imangali Zhakan ‘26 said, “Coming in, I did not know how to gift wrap, but it’s the fact that you're surrounded by your friends and people you care about that makes it so much better.”
The holiday excitement was evident. Dominic Grady ‘28 noted, “It’ll make the kids really happy and I love wrapping presents.” Eric Xiang ‘28 agreed, “It was something I was really excited to do, and I was so happy I was able to do it. It just feels really great to wrap presents for little kids. They're looking forward to it and, in some circumstances, they wouldn't be able to get it.”
Zhakan ‘26 stated, “The fact that we all do something so fun and good for the community and for less privileged people is such an amazing experience and the fact that we got to do it with our peer groups was actually something really enjoyable.” Many 9th-grade peer groupees voiced similar opinions; Roy Seligman ‘28 added, “It reminded me of how happy I was as a kid receiving gifts on Christmas. It brought me a lot of joy to give back to the community.” Chloe Quaye ‘28 also noted, “It made me really appreciate my parents cause they always make sure to get me really nice stuff. I took away that not everyone can afford to buy their kids nice gifts even if they really want to.”
Santa’s Toy Box night was another success for all involved, and a great way to help a cause while connecting the community.