Blair Ambassadors to host toy drive

The Blair Ambassadors are organizing a toy drive from Nov. 10 - Dec. 10 to help brighten the lives of local children in need. Collection bins for toys, books and other entertainment items will be placed in the Media Center, guidance office and the two administrative offices in rooms 240 and 340 so that students can drop off their donations.

The toys will be donated to the Montgomery County Coalition of Homeless Shelters, according to Blair Ambassadors sponsor and English teacher Michelle Sobers. She specifically requested that the coalition distribute the donations to local, family-focused homeless shelters to benefit children. Donations will also be delivered to several Blair ESOL families at a dinner in December, according to Sobers.

Other local organizations may also receive toys from Blair depending on the quantity of donations. "Based on the amount of toys we get, we would like to branch out to other places," she said. Although the goal is to have students give brand-new toys, Sobers emphasized that the Ambassadors will gladly accept any kind of donation.

Each member of Blair Ambassadors will be responsible for bringing in at least one toy to start the donating process, according to Sobers. She hopes that these donations will launch a wave of donations from Blair students and staff. The Ambassadors are looking for complete staff participation in the drive and are considering how further to encourage student participation. "We're tossing around the idea of an incentive, maybe a raffle or something," Sobers said.

The toy drive is the brainchild of Blair Ambassadors senior Rahel Habtemariam, who wanted to organize a charity event focused on the welfare of children. "There are a lot of kids who don't get to have family gifts or a family holiday," she said. "I thought it would be most helpful if we did a toy drive for kids."

Sobers said that students should not feel obligated to donate expensive toys and hopes that they will take this opportunity to bring in anything they can. "You're really doing it out of the goodness of your heart," she said. "Whatever you feel you can afford is what we'll take."