Each December, it’s hard to miss the festive decorations adorning the campus. It can be di cult to resist the joyful holiday jazz playing on the promenade, or the towering nutcrackers guarding the entrances to almost every building.

But there is more to the holiday season than festive decorations. High Point University students’ Christmas cheer ran deeper than mere tree trimming, as evidenced HPU chapel’s Board of Stewards effort to give to the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program.

The Board of Stewards has a tradition where every semester they commit to a service project. is past semester, they donated the weekly offerings collected at chapel services to children in need.

154 High Point children listed their needs and wants, ranging from shoes to board games. Some of the children were “sponsored,” meaning that one person was selected to collect their Christmas list and go shopping for that child specifically.

Those who are not sponsored in this way, however, still received holiday gifts. 11 HPU students went on a Christmas shopping spree with the money they raised in order to buy gifts for the local kids.

“Hundreds of High Point students sponsored children and do- nated money,” said freshman Brooke Smith, a student who participated in the shopping spree. The board made sure that everyone had warm coats, socks and even underwear for the upcoming winter months.

Board of Stewards member Nick Kirby emphasized that, “We made sure to collect the essentials and needs of the children before any of the wants.”

Not all of the gifts were necessities, however. e volunteers made sure that each child received something fun for Christmas as well. This project has brought happiness not only to children at Christmas, but also to those who participated in it.

Nick Kirby reminisced, “I love imagining the children opening their presents on Christmas morning, and know- ing that some stranger cared enough about them to give them a gift.” This project allowed students to come together with friends and strangers to work toward a common goal and have fun doing so. ose who participated vehemently agree that they would participate again next year, encour- aging their friends to do so as well. “It is such a good cause, and you get to spread the joy of Christmas to hundreds of children,” Smith noted.

Some of the larger contributors to the donation funds were HPU’s Student Government Association and Greek life organizations. Collectively, HPU students raised $15,000 for children in need.

For over 100 High Point children, Christmas was made a little brighter thanks to the work of HPU students. e holidays are certainly celebrated with grandeur at HPU, but even as the smell of peppermint mocha pervaded the Slane Student Center, the spirit of giving was not forgotten.