Students At Chicago Heights Middle School Get Toys For Holidays

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL —Students at the Michelle Obama School of Technology were gifted free toys, goodie bags and a festive holiday party as part of a partnership with Joliet's Toys for Tots Campaign the week before Christmas, school officials told Patch.

A toy was provided for every single student who attended the Winter Holly Jolly Toy Giveaway event on Tuesday. Administration said students could pick from toys including board games, remote control cars, books, drones, basketballs and more.

The goodie bag contained a make-your-own mug kit, hot chocolate, a candy cane, a hat and a pair of gloves for each student. While goodie bags came from the school, the rest of the event was put together by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve charity.

Eighth grade students from the district also volunteered to help the event run smoothly, which had to be conducted classroom by classroom in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines.

Joliet's Toys for Tots Foundation also organized toy drives and giveaways at the Barack Obama School of Leadership and STEM and other south suburban schools and health centers.

A spokesperson for the foundation told Patch the toy giveaways were originally meant to be scheduled throughout the week to spread the holiday cheer, but with COVID-19 forcing the Park Forest school to go remote beginning Wednesday, the giveaways were

Originally, the toy giveaways were to be spread throughout the week, however with COVID numbers on the rise, the district elected to go remote beginning Wednesday. All of the remaining toy giveaways for the schools within District 163 were rescheduled for Tuesday.