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It is the season of giving, and students and staff at North Branch Area Public Schools are pulling together to make sure the holidays are more enjoyable for the less fortunate in the local area.

Fifth graders at North Branch Area Middle School showed "very selfless" behavior, according to principal Todd Tetzlaff, leading a building-wide toy drive that collected over 300 toys that were dispersed to hospitals in Cambridge and Wyoming. Fifth grade students also raised $850 in penny wars, $100 of which supplemented the toy drive, and $750 to the North Branch Family Pathways food shelf. The check for the amount was presented by students Brandon O'Donnell, Natalie Olinske, and Ellie Youngs.

As a service project, Sheryl Read-Slaughter's third graders organized a school wide toy drive. Sunrise River School students collected 166 toys to benefit Chisago County Anonymous Santa.

North Branch Education Association (teachers) raised $505 through another service project led by Read-Slaughter. The proceeds were donated to the North Branch Family Pathways food shelf, where demand, says food shelf coordinator Lori Daman, is as high as it has ever been.

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