Between November 1-30, we will be collecting the following items by school. Students and staff can bring items to school and drop them off in the front office or at the designated location.

• Early Childhood, Preschool, and Wildwood Elementary School Students and Staff: New Children's and Young Adult Books

• O.H. Anderson Elementary School Students and Staff: New Toys and Puzzles

• Mahtomedi Middle School Students and Staff: Financial Donations/Ka$h 4 Kidz (students can bring cash or checks to their Middle School Success class; checks should be made out to Mahtomedi Middle School) MMS students will be shopping for clothes, pajamas, blankets, and non-toy needs. Please note MMS collections will run from Nov. 4-Dec. 4.

• Mahtomedi High School and Passages Students and Staff: Gift Cards for Young Adults

• District-Wide Staff: Gift Wrap and Gift Bags (Drop off at DEC)

The collaborative efforts of the 2023 Zephyr Service Project raised over $7,000 and hundreds of toys, puzzles, and books for over 100 Mahtomedi students who applied for gift assistance.

Notes of Gratitude from 2023 Gift Recipients

• “Thank you so much for helping make our family holiday so memorable and happy. With my cancer treatment bills piling up, I had been trying throughout the year to slowly get gifts and hide them away but with your program, my kids received things they wanted that I knew I couldn't get yet. You must have some pretty cool kids/teens helping because they picked out the best things possible and the staff when I came to pick up didn't make me feel ashamed and assisted me with loading and adding extra wrapping materials.”

• “Thank you. This was the first Christmas where we weren't sure how to make it financially. This made it easier.”

• “Thank you to all the volunteers that made celebrating the holidays possible. Our children were overjoyed with the gifts they received. As parents, we are eternally grateful, considering that we have a little one on the way. We are in the middle of transitioning jobs, which wasn't an ideal thing to do so close to the holidays, but we had no choice.”