As Christmas Day approaches, kids search the house, hoping to find presents tucked away for Christmas. But for many kids and teenagers, Christmas presents are just not a feasible option for their family. Money is much better spent on the essentials like a home, fresh water, food, and medical bills. Organizations all across Massachusetts and the country, such as Toys for Tots and Operation Christmas Child, do their best to bring a gift to every forgotten or poor child, but there are always those who fall through the cracks. Teenagers between the ages of 12-18 are often among those forgotten during the Christmas season, because they have reached an age where they should understand that the money is for essentials. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make the holidays easier to bear, so Montrose’s chapter of the National Honors Society paired up with a Montrose alumna to host the Don’t Forget About Me Project.

The Don’t Forget About Me Project was founded by Montrose alumna Victoria Adams. While completing her masters degree in social work at Simmons College, she worked at a nonprofit hospital in Boston. During her time there, she met teenagers and adolescents dealing with a multitude of problems, such as chronic and life-altering diagnoses. On top of their illnesses, many of these teenagers also lacked the proper support at home (deceased parents, DCF custody, etc.) and struggled getting their day to day needs met. Inspired by her experiences with these teenagers, Victoria founded the Don’t Forget About Me Project to bring joy to their Christmas as well as provide them with Massachusetts winter essentials. The project is looking for donations such as (but not limited to) winter clothing, gift cards, electronics, etc. With donations of gift cards and money, Ms. Adams will buy more clothes and presents for the project.

In a community as close and blessed as the Montrose Community, it is our duty to give back to those with so much less than ourselves. Olivia Hastie ‘18 said: “This year we really want to revive the service culture at Montrose in any ways we can. Think about how you would feel if you weren’t going to get a lot of presents this year. Give the gift of service and donate.”

All around the school, in each grade’s “home-room” you will see boxes covered in pretty wrapping paper. In the small boxes, you can donate any spare change or bills as well as gift cards. In the big boxes, you can put the gifts. In addition, check out the Project’s GoFundMe page so that those of you who forget or cannot donate in the school can still contribute. The drive will be open until December 11th, so please donate as much as you can in whatever way you can.  

Update: Deadline has been extended to Wednesday, December 13.