Hi everyone. >> Isn't this lunch delicious? >> The students told me it's almost as good as the tartan lunch. >> That's what they said. They We're not sure what's happening over there today. It might be orange chicken or pizza. misdent. We don't know. It's something, right? Um, so really happy to be able to introduce uh part of our whole story for today. Um, this video was created by Cody Hansen, who's going to wave his hand up because he's eating. Uh, Cody Hansen with Exist Media. Um, I've had personally had the opportunity to work with Cody, I don't know, three or four times already on some other projects and, uh, he just does a beautiful job. I know with Holiday Helping Hands, there was a video maybe 10 years ago or something. Um, but this is a refresh. It's about six minutes long. We hope you'll take the time while you're dining to enjoy the video. And then when we're done with the video, we're going to queue up the students. Did I miss anything? >> No. >> Enjoy. Today, our tartan students are wrapping all of the gifts for our holiday helping hands program. On Saturday, we're going to have our big distribution day where families get to come and pick up the gifts that they share their wish list for the students. 33 years ago, one of the discussion was, well, how are we going to spend some money for the uh community, I told the story of when I was in high school, we hosted a day where kids would come in, go into the classroom, and the kids all got a present. Seeing the smiles on their faces, it was just uh very rewarding for me. years later when I got onto the Oakdale Business Association, we were wondering what we could do with some money and put it back into the community. We were going to help eight families. We talked again and we donated more money and we got maybe 15 families. You know, from there it just kept growing and growing and growing and I see it happening. I mean, it's evolved over the past 30 years. that has evolved into many more levels in including getting other community organizations involved. So, Hope Church was involved and then Tartan High School became involved. So, there's multiple levels as far as the program, many of which we didn't know when we initiated it. I got a call from one of the chamber members and said, "Hey, we've got this organization that is trying to bring joy to to kids during the Christmas season. would you like to help us with that? And we jumped all over that thing and and found it to be just a very satisfying opportunity to give back. There was a growing need. We didn't know the conditions of families and then we began to discover that there were some real needs out there and it just made sense for us to keep it going, keep it growing. Certainly around the holiday time, the need in our community becomes more visible. So, a lot of families have increasing financial pressure this time of year. Things like heating costs, grocery bills, and just everyday bills can make it hard to think about gifts and holiday meals. We also see emotional stress increase a lot during this time of year. So, with holiday helping hands, this program can provide some relief for families. And that emotional impact can be just as big as the tangible impact with the gifts. It's dignity. It's relief. Um it's kind of taking some of the pressure off of the season so that they can actually enjoy it with their families. So the holiday helping hands program works because of the partnership between the chamber, the school, and the the volunteers and our tartan students. Um everyone brings something essential to the program. So the chamber brings the coordination and the resources. The social workers bring the connection to families and identifying who would benefit most from the resources. And then the volunteers and the students really bring it all to life and and bring it together. So, it's a beautiful example of how community partnerships can work and how they can strengthen our community. It also strengthens partnerships between the school and families because we're able to provide this resource. So, it's, you know, it's a farreaching impact that you might not always see even right that day of the event. Holly Helping Hands is a year-long fundraiser where we raise money to shop for families that are in need and so they can get their Christmas a little bit brighter each year. This will be my fourth year doing holiday helping hands since 8th grade. It's a great bonding event for our student council as a whole. Really brings everybody together, the music, the food, helping each other out, sharing the gifts you bought for the kids. It's really fun. Um, we listen to a bunch of Christmas music and everyone's just like laughing and having fun as well as we're here for the same purpose of wrapping these gifts and getting out to our community. >> Yeah. My favorite part about holiday helping hands is definitely the shopping. I like to imagine what the kids are going to get and like how excited they're going to be. Yeah, it really puts a lot into perspective of what's going on in other people's lives and how some people are less fortunate than others and how we're really privileged to be honest. Um, so being able to give back and just understand what other people are going through maybe or what other people don't have that you might have is really important. I know Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I think a lot of kids think that way too. It's really meaningful because when all the families come and pick them up on the day that we deliver them, that's when we're truly giving back to them and so it kind of just all comes together in the end cuz we made our goal which is to give the gifts to them. I think it feels really good helping out kids, especially knowing that Christmas is around families. So, knowing that we get to help so many different families in our community because for those kids, it's going to be a really memorable Christmas knowing that they got those presents. Tartan High School kids have really accelerated the our capacity to meet the needs and they take on more and more responsibility every year and and so it's it's a it's a beautiful thing. >> As the school social workers, we have the privilege of getting to know our students and families really well throughout the year. So that really guides our process in identifying and selecting which families to refer for holiday helping hands. Some families may reach out to us directly and request holiday assistance. Others we may know are going through a difficult time or experiencing some financial stress or pressure. So we might reach out to them ourselves and refer them to this program. That's very exciting to see the other community members, businesses, individuals that keep getting involved and saying we want to be part of this. Why? Because it's a great event. This is one of the most rewarding things that we can do as a chamber for our community because it affects so many kids. To see the smiles on the faces of families and kids and to hear stories of what is happening when the gifts are dropped off in their homes is just overwhelming. >> It's just really important to always think about where you are and just be aware of the value of giving back to your community. All right, before we meet the stars of the show today, first for those of you I may not have had the opportunity to meet yet, my name is Larry Eberhard and I have the wonderful opportunity part to be part of the Holiday Helping Hands program dating all the way back to December of 1992. So, we're in our 33rd year. Thank you again very much for all of the support that you've given through the chamber and the other organizations. As you might imagine, coordinating and making all of the pieces of this program come together in somewhat of a smooth fashion given all of the moving parts is no small feat. For several months, you have probably seen John Larson and I up in front of you sharing some of the updates and also thanking you for your support. Let me now pull the curtain back and introduce you to the real heroes that make this all work and come together. In the spirit as I introduce the people uh in the spirit of time, uh I'm going to ask that you withhold any applause until the very end and then we can acknowledge all of the participants. So, first the holiday helping hand team for 2025. Sue Meyer. Sue Meyer is our shopping coordinator. Follow those directions. Now, Sue Meyer is our shopping coordinator extraordinaire. She manages all of the individual shoppers, which at any given year can range from 30 to 50, and also ensures that all of the family members and the kids receive and have their gifts. Second, and I know Patty is not here to join us today. Patty Kas, Patty coordinates the food from the open cupboard and delivers volunteer food in the day of the event and she also coordinates the delivery including having Santa in tow this year to some of the families. Allison Ali Allison have you ch stand up. Allison is our tartan high school uh start tartan student council leazison and manages all things tartan. the students, reserving the school, the parking lot, and as you had seen in the video, she also helps manage getting all of those gifts wrapped at Tartan High School. Diane Peterson and Jenna Willark. These two incredible social workers are willing to accept the daunting task of coordinating the social workers from school district 622, who are then the direct links to the families. The school social workers are the literal boots on the ground team members who are selecting the families most in need and helping determine what each family member needs for the holiday season. CC Cruz. CC is our direct partner with Crossroads Properties. CC coordinated with multiple tenants of Crossroads to sponsor about 30 families this year and then had the gifts of those from those families wrapped, bagged, and promptly delivered to Tartan High School a couple days prior to the event. Todd Christensen. Todd is a retired engineer from 3M who brought his phenomenal skill set for numbers, Excel spreadsheets, and overall coordination to the holiday helping hand program. Todd collects the family details from the social workers, including number of people in the family, how many children, ages of the children, and compiles this into a massive spreadsheet for the shoppers and the delivery day. Todd is also, perhaps not surprisingly, our quality control guy. Before any family leaves the parking lot on the day of delivery, Todd ensures that they have the correct gifts and food and finally gift card as well. Next, an incredibly important link to this program are our shoppers. And as I previously mentioned, in any given year, we have 30 to 50. Today, we are extremely honored to have some veteran shoppers, Jan and Pat Gonda. Can I have you stand up, please? Jan and Pat have been engaged with Holiday Helping Hand for 20, 25 plus years. >> Plus 25. >> Plus 25. Okay. So, there's an incredible commitment to this program. Not only are they regular shoppers, they also donate financially to the program as well. >> And we live in Hudson. As I mentioned in the video, there are so many incredible layers to this program and there is just one more example. And now, of course, the financial supporters. Without their support, this program would only be able to serve a fraction of the families and children we were able to reach and serve in 2025. And if the numbers haven't been given out yet, I think the numbers are 144 and 420. Is that right, uh, Todd? 144 families and 400 >> 23 kids. >> 423 kids. >> 423. >> All right. >> Again, none of this would be possible without the financial support. So, let me recognize uh Crossroads Properties and Amy Johnson. Amy, can you stand up, please? And CC Cruz. And remain standing here until I go through the whole list. Highland Bank, Barb Sheldon, and Angie Prop. And Rick Wall was not able to join us today. Citizens Community Federal is Jimmy. Did I miss Jimmy? Oh, Jimmy. Thank you. Jimmy Guerreri, uh, Travis from Citizens Community Federal, Premier Bank, Eric Austin, Terry Furlong, who's somewhere between here and Kansas City right now, and Allison, I don't think Allison was able to make it today. Allison Whitner, uh, Open Cupboard Food Shelf, Jessica Francis and her wonderful staff, Marcus Theaters, uh, David Brassette and Valerie Dwire, the Oakdale Area Chamber of Commerce, Bob and Monica Stiglitch, I know they're here in the back, and son Joe as well. Becky Amble, did Becky Becky had to leave. She was doing another video conference at the time. uh Becky and uh Becky's uh partner Marshall Gravdall, Frank Oceloy, >> and once again, Jan and Pat Gonda. Again, as I mentioned, not only are they consistent shoppers, but they also contribute to the uh to the program financially. Okay, there we go. Now, please join me in a round of applause, thanking each of these team members, shoppers, and financial contributors for all that they've done to make this an incredibly successful program. I had to make sure it was 423 because it's in my speech. We're good. Okay. 423. That's the number of children in our community who found gifts under their Christmas tree just two weeks ago. 423. And while most of us in this room will never see their faces, these students can imagine them because they were the ones who shopped, wrapped, sorted, and packed those gifts. They were part of the reason 423 kids experienced joy, relief, and a sense of being seen this holiday season. The students and other volunteers saw firsthand what gifts for 423 look like. You saw in the video, it looks like hallways lined with large numbered bags that seem to go on forever. But to put 423 in human terms, it's about one full grade level at Tartan High School. It's an entire section at a pepfest. or a very full lunch period. It's seven school buses filled to capacity. That's what 423 is. That's what you impacted all because you showed up. My name is Melissa Mlan and I'm honored to moderate today's conversation. But I'm even more honored that these students lent their time, talents, and today their voices so that we can celebrate all that is Holiday Helping Hands. As you just saw in the video, Holiday Helping Hands is one of those organizations that shows up quietly but powerfully for our community. Many of you here today have donated gifts, given financially, wrapped presents, or supported work in other ways. You already know this isn't just about gifts under the tree. It's about dignity. It's about care. It's about reminding families that their community sees them. You know, more than one in three family households in Minnesota are living paycheck to paycheck. These fam these are families working hard struggling to cover basics like housing, food, child care, and healthcare. That's the reality in which holiday helping hands does its work. And that's why it matters so deeply. So today, we get to hear from some people we don't always put in front and center for conversations like this. The high school students who chose to serve their community. These students didn't volunteer to set up a resume line or a class requirement. They showed up to make the holidays brighter for the children they may never meet. And so in doing so, they experienced something powerful, the ripple effect of service. Because you know, sometimes volunteering changes a moment and sometimes it changes a person. So with that, I'd like to introduce our student panel. What we'll do is we'll spend 15 minutes uh on the panel and another 15 minutes in Q&A with all of the students. Okay. So, welcome students. >> Turn this off. Oh, I guess I need this, don't I? Okay, you guys ready? Okay, first would you please introduce yourselves, what grade you're in, and what your role is with student council. >> Um, hi, my name is Ella Ebenhook. I'm an 11th grader at Tartan and I'm the vice president of student student council. My name is Anna Wilkkey. Um, I'm a senior and I am one of the social media managers. >> My name is Aubrey Unkeles Bay. I'm a senior and I'm a delegate on the student council board. >> Okay. The first question, and not everybody has to answer it, just if it sort of moves you, you can answer. We've got three questions today. As members of student council, service is part of what you do, but this project was especially large. What did it take to turn an idea into action on this scale? >> Um, I was thinking about this one and I really think it was about uh the dedication and commitment that everybody alto together in student council has, but importantly our board. I think we're completely dedicated just in general joining student council. It's a commitment. Um, and just giving more time, giving extra time to go shop for the gifts. Put care, put your thought. I know I put a lot of thought into the gifts that I was buying for those kids and it meant a lot to me. Um, wrapping the gifts for the kids, taking our time to make them look perfect. Um, staying out in the cold to hand out those gifts for the kids, going back and forth, carrying up the heavy bags up the stairs. Um, yeah, I think it's about dedication and commitment. Um, sorry. I'll add on to that. Um, holiday helping hands is obviously um a tradition at Tartan. So, I think keeping that alive and keeping so many people involved keeps it going and keeps it alive. And having all these people involved truly keeps it a big thing so we can help all these kids during the holidays. I know another thing that we discussed as a student council was to not only fund raise during like the months leading up to the event and holiday helping hands, but just to do it throughout the entire year. That way we can make as much money like for the event the following year. >> So leadership, organization, working together, fundraising, all great skills as you grow up and grow older into the next part of your of your lives. Um, speaking of leadership, so in organizing this big project, what did you learn about leadership along the way? I would imagine um, for some of you who are upper classman too, you must have had some younger students there. So, what um, what about the leadership in this journey? >> Um, well, especially for me, um, my little sister joined student council um, just because I was in it, I think. Um, but it was very important that we taught the underassmen and the people that were new to the council why we do holiday holiday helping hands and then just kind of introduce them to the tradition that we do at Tartan. And I think with that it takes a lot of hearing hearing their opinions and their perspective from maybe like an underassman's point of view if that makes sense. So, um, at our student council, we have a very diverse a lot of different groups of people like friend groups and just kids in general. And I think with that, we're able to hit a bunch of different perspectives of maybe the kids we're shopping for and the families we're we're helping. Um, and with that, I think, uh, sorry, it's really important that we have a diverse like student council and then you get to hear all of the point point of view of all of the students in our in our council. Um, and yeah, so just listening to all of the groups that will help or that what that helped us like be successful with the kids we shopped for or the shopping we did for the kids. Um, similar to what Ella was saying, I just think it's really important to kind of adopt the younger class into what we're doing and kind of like show them the purpose of it and hopefully it's something that they'll return to student council like excited for for the next year. Like they're wanting to do this and then even going a step further and wanting to do it outside of just holiday helping hands. I know there's so many other like organizations that like you like Angel Tree, you can go do that. maybe it's something that will encourage them to want to go do that as well. So, I think it's really important to have that leadership role and just teaching the youth that this is a good thing and like wanting them cuz I know I want to continue doing this outside of high school and I would hope for the same for them. >> Um, so I think this leads us to the next question we talked about a little bit um about bringing up the younger students. You mentioned your sister joined student council. you know, it's what it's kind of what they see and they want to be like, right? It's hard to be what you can't see, I used to say. Um, so if you're talking to a room, let's say you run over to Sky View and you're talking to a bunch of seventh and eighth graders that are about to come over to Tartan, what would you say to them um about about their experience at Tartan and what can help them build the skills that you built with this, with organizing, with leadership, with teamwork, with listening as much as speaking like you talked about. What would you say to those middle schoolers as they came to you uh to the high school? >> Um I would just say like it's very important for them to get involved. Um it's scary especially coming in to a bigger school with everyone that's older than you. Um especially as an eighth grader where you're coming from being like kind of the top dog at middle school to a young scared freshman at high in high school. And so just get involved. I know I was kind of put on too much on my plate when I was a freshman. and I wanted to get involved with everything. And that but that kind of put like my foot in the door and led me to have like the leadership positions I hold in those um clubs now. And I was scared as a freshman, but now like being involved with the club, having help from upper classman's, I've been able to do my part and recruit young underassmen and I don't Yeah. >> Yeah. Similar to Ella, I just want to say get involved as much as you can, especially in sports. I mean, all of us up here are student athletes at Tartan. I've been in um three sports through Tartan, and I can't explain how many friends I've met through that, and the amount of lessons I've learned. I've learned to be a leader. I've learned to connect with the underassman who may have been put on my team. And they do look up to you. So, just teaching them that. And it just like getting involved is always it gives you so many friends and opportunities and also it also goes into volunteering and fundraising through all those sports at every single one I've been in. We've volunteered and we've fundraised, you know, get some money for the next year and get special equipment that we want and it just truly helps the the club and the sport and just everybody involved in that. >> Yeah, I'm going to say something similar as well. Um, but I just think it's so important to just try something new. Um, especially as a freshman or eighth grade going into freshman year, I know I tried a handful of new things at Tartan and coming over from North St. Paul. And I think I just it was it's so important to try new things and expand yourself and adapt to change. And I think that's a very important thing like transitioning into high school like try a new sport, try a new club. If you don't have any friends in that club, meet new friends in that club. And I think it's really important for growth throughout high school. So, this is a broader question and my final question to you and then we're going to open up for questions and also um let you all introduce yourselves and you all can answer these questions as well. Um so, we're looking out at a room full of amazing people, professionals. They support Tartan High School and Earth St. Paul High School probably more than you are aware kind of behind the scenes. Many of them went to Tartan High School looking at you Tony. Um, so we appreciate all that you did for holiday helping hands. Um, it was so important. How can we help Tartan students as you prepare for the next steps? We've got insurance agents here and realtors and social workers and pastors and all sorts of folks here. Um, what can we do to support high school students on your journey? >> That's a good question. Um just just tell them. >> Okay. >> Look, point and say you can help me. >> Um like you said, there's a bunch of different groups of people. All of you have different jobs, do different things, and I think that's very widespread as it is. Um but it's important that like we continue to grow like not even with like like how we broadcast to like students at Tartan and say like can you come join this club? This is what we're doing. how how can you help us fund raise? But kind of do that in your work field and stuff like that. Just I don't know, broadcast it out to your colleagues, your employees, like anything like that just helps and gets them involved as well because it feels really good to help and volunteer and fund raise and give back to the community. And as we spread it across not just Oakdale but across, you know, uh Minnesota, but we also >> do you're in DECA. Tell them you're in DECA. They love DECA people. They love DECA. They love VPA. Yes. Right. So all of that, right? Yeah. Ella's and DECA. >> Sorry. um just like expanding other people's knowledge of especially adults can help bring in more students, bring in more money to help fund raise, make give back more if that makes sense. Mhm. >> Yeah. I would just say um giving us a lot of opportunities especially in all your guys' fields because I know as high schoolers a lot of us are wondering what we want to do next and so learning about what some of you guys may do may give us an interest in that field. Um like we host a lot of events like Relay for Life if you guys are aware of that and just certain other events where you guys can go and kind of give out your information or just tell us more about your field. I know it'll get a lot of high schoolers thinking about what they might want to do next and just opportunities to either volunteer or just go like shadow or something like that so they can figure out what they might want to do next in after high school. >> Um I think Anna and Ella said it best, but I just want to say that we're very grateful for what you guys do and just keep on doing it cuz I think we've all by the video like seen the impact that it has on all of us and makes everybody feel good. I hope I know it made all of us feel good. So, just keep doing what you're doing. >> Thank you to our panel. Thank you everybody. Thank you. Um, we saved some time for questions. Um, and while you're formulating those questions, I'm going to hand the mic off and I'd like you to introduce yourselves and what grade you're in and um, what your role is in in student council and you will be formulating your questions. Right. Okay. the teacher in me can just >> Hi everyone, I'm Gabriella. I'm a sophomore at Tartan High School and I'm a general member. >> I'm Kiana. I'm a sophomore and I'm a general member. >> I'm Emma. I'm a sophomore and I'm also a general member. >> All right. I'm Savannah and I'm the other delegate of student council. Great. Okay, we will open it up for questions. Okay, Tony, I'm gonna let you use your big voice and I'm going to hand them the mic. >> Yeah, that's good. Um, I don't, this is a sensitive question, but how important is family support and home life and have your parents been involved and helping you be who you are and kind of strive to achieve the goals that you're you're striving for? >> Okay. Yep. I know my parents definitely pushed me to be involved with my community. Um, and it's not necessarily like they're they forced me to do it. Obviously, I love doing it. Um, but I think especially because my my mom is a therapist and so she has a lot of empathy for people and I think she kind of brought when she was raising me or help helping to raise me like I think that kind of got had a lot of influence on me and like how I treat people and what I want to do when I'm older and stuff like that. So I I know support from my parents has definitely helped me become the person I am today. But it's also just the people around me and seeing stuff happening in my community and situations that have affected me and influenced my actions. >> Um, I will say I've always felt supported by my parents and my family. Like I can't remember a single sporting event where there was not somebody there for me and I'm extremely privileged to have that. Um, and I just think the way my mom raised me, we grew up in the Catholic church and we were always just told to give back and that's just kind of the mindset I've grown up with and that's just something I want to continue doing. Y >> kind of like adding on to what they said, like my family's given me a bunch of support from like a very young age and they've just told me to love everybody and help everyone like to your best ability. And I think yes, I'm I'm very privileged to have like the family I have and just growing up in the environment has turned me to like really open my eyes and see everyone's situations in life and try to help as much as I can. >> Good question, Miss Tammy. Tammy, do you want a microphone? >> Yes, today. >> Today you do. Um, so I really privileged because a bunch of the girls at the table here also do work with Relay for Life. So I was like walked in and just thought, "Oh my gosh, they also do this." So I would love to hear from each of you because I don't know how you're balancing all the good things that you're doing along with school work. But I'd be just interested to know, you know, what else are you involved in and and how do you find a way to balance all of that? You ready? Okay. >> I think balancing school, life, and work can be super hard, but I think it's really important that you find the joy in what you're doing instead of being like, I have to do homework. Oh, no. Even though it sounds hard, I guess I would be happy to do homework or I'm happy to go to practice because I get to see my teammates. So looking at the happier side of things and enjoying what I get to do makes it easier to do those things. Even though there might be a million things on my plate, knowing that I have my friends and my family to help me is super helpful. And just they give me the support that I need. So just having a positive attitude and a mindset is so helpful. And yeah. >> Yeah. I would say the same thing as her. like when you I'm in like two clubs and two sports for the school. So, it gets hard to balance things and you like you might like when you're going to like your sport or your activity, you might be thinking, "Oh, I could be doing something else right now." But if you just look at it in a positive way, like, oh, I'm going to this club and I'm going to brainstorm new ideas to help out our community or I'm going to this practice and I'm going to help better myself for the sport that I am or help my teammates out and stuff like that. You're looking at it cuz it's not also like it's not just helping yourself, it's helping everyone else that you're doing it with. So just making sure to remember that and like the positive things about it, it'll help like what you like it'll help you want to do it more, you know? >> Did any of you have any thoughts about Holiday Helping Hands that you didn't get to weigh in on, you know, just in general like the impact or the vastness of it, the amount of gifts? Were you surprised? Like share your feedback on your experience with Holiday Helping Hands because I know we didn't get a chance to ask you. I've done Holly Help. This is my second our second year. Our second year doing Holly H helping hands. And it's been fun every single year. Like really, it's like really like it impacts me a lot to see the families that come and that need the gifts and just talking to them and having conversations and knowing that I help them today. It's a really powerful experience for me. Last year I was a freshman and it was my first year doing holiday helping hands and going into it I didn't know a lot about it and then when you show up you can feel like the joy in the room. Everyone's just laughing and singing. I know I was caroling and you know it's just you don't realize how much of an impact it is until you really get involved and you see the smiles on all the people's faces. I know this year there was a boy and we just had some toy cars and him seeing that like his smile, the joy on his face like it moves you to be a better person and makes you want to be involved more and give back. >> It's beautiful. This year was my first year ever doing holiday helping hands. And it was a really good experience for me and like made my heart feel happy knowing I helped a family and not just me but almost every half people at at Tarton. knowing that we just put a smile on not just a one kid but maybe a whole family's face that day knowing that they could have what I had but just being being grateful that I could give back to the people in my community >> I can use my big voice >> you can use your big voice >> first of all thank you for all of your your effort and work that you put into this. Um, you know, it seems like, uh, public service and giving back and community service is becoming increasingly rare in in our cities. Um, but here we have a room filled with people that, um, have taken, you know, that one ask, you know, for some people maybe decades ago and turned it into an entire adulthood of giving back to their community. As you think about the future, um I know we have some we have people of all different grades, but thinking beyond high school, what does your community service or public service look like? What what would a utopia be? What would you be interested in doing? Running for local government, maybe it pays really well. Oh, what what what did that look like for all of you? >> Go this way. Um, well, I'm actually I am interested in politics and I don't know if I'm going to go as far as to run for a political position one day, but it is something that definitely interests me. So being a part of like a a city council or something like that um will definitely it interests me and I want to use my both my interest in it and also just like my want to give back to the community to help like give back. Um, I know also that there's a lot of issues arising with like different um, uh, racial groups and I think that that is something that I'm also very um, passionate in and I want to help as much as possible um, throughout my entire life of just making sure everyone feels loved and included and doing that in any way I can. To be clear, once upon a time, I sat on the student council and said I would never run for office. So, it's a slippery slope. >> Um, yeah, looking past high school um during or going into college, I'm going to try and um go for nursing and so I'm really interested in the health field and stuff like that. And so, I just know like even looking into the future now, I want to get involved a lot in that way. um whether that's just volunteering at hospitals or even I might be looking into that for um the summer just volunteering and looking into what I can do to better help my future especially in the health field and just kind of getting involved with that and looking into that. Um, something that I'm really big on is advocating for people who maybe are afraid to speak up. And this could go in a political way for me as well because I am interested in politics, but not something I might carry on into my future as like a job. Um, but advocating for people is super important for me. And just helping people out who need it and like have like don't have access to resources that everybody else has. So, that's something I would like to carry on in my future with me. Thank you. Larry had Larry had a question and then >> this may be a question >> more for the first time participants. I'm curious to know when you were first introduced or first uh um gained some knowledge of the holiday helping hands what prompted you to take that next step which is to take action to get involved that was the first part of the question. And the second part of the question is after you've now been involved, did did what did you learn from that action that you took? >> That's a doozy. Okay, you're on it. >> My first time was last year and I know I got involved because my sister was also in student council and so I kind of just got in because I wanted to be like her. But but when I actually did like call the helping hands, I learned a lot more about it and I thought that it was like very impactful for me and for everyone. And I would say that like I learned that just like one simple thing, something, it doesn't have to be like a gift, but one simple thing that you say can just really change someone's perspective on life and really help someone out like how they are like their current situation in life. like you can help by just saying or just putting like smiling at someone or something that can really change someone's life and that changed my whole perspective on life and changed me as a person. >> One more and then you're up next question. Um, my first time doing this was just last year when I first joined student council. And I think something that really drew my attention was when Miss Oolie said that we get to go shop for the kids. And that made me so so excited. Like I get to go pick out something for these kids and I really hope that they enjoy it when they open it on Christmas morning. And that just made me really want to continue doing what we do and made me feel really good about myself and really good about what we're doing at Tartan High School. Um, so my first time doing holiday helping hands was also last year. And what really sparked my interest was my brother dressed up for as Santa um when he was in doing holiday helping hands when he was in student council. And I really wanted to dress up like Santa. And so um I was very excited to just do it for that part. I didn't really know like what it was for or like the true meaning behind it. Um, but as I've this my this was my second year doing it, it just makes you feel really good about yourself. Um, and it just makes you like happy about yourself, but also like that there's so many people around you that are also helping and want this want this for like the kids and families that you're that you're impacting. And you feel very like productive in a way of just like I'm doing this. So, I'm giving back to my community and like people are going to have a good Christmas because I'm putting in the time and effort while also having fun. Um, and yeah, it just feels really rewarding. >> So, did you get to dress up like Santa? >> I did not. >> Miss Oie, I think. Did you have one more question for the kids and then we're going to have you say a few words. Yeah. >> So, you mentioned uh encouraging other kids to get in sports, you know, join some clubs. But do you have any like um stories uh about how you might have reached out to those kids that maybe aren't in sports or that are introverted or may not be somebody that would join a club? So I'm all about like connecting people. So uh how do you connect those kids that maybe get forgotten or they're over in the corner or they're quiet or whatever like that? being stories versus strategies. >> So, I'm also involved with Link Crew at Tartan, which is basically a group of upper classmen who um help the freshman out and like introduce them to everything at Tartan, give them a tour. Like, we come to school a day before our actual first day starts and then spend the time with the freshmen, getting to know them in small groups. And during that time, we host a like club fair and like event fair. So any sports teams or clubs that are looking for new members or are at Tartan will host like a little stand in the gym and then freshman can go around during their lunch period and like sign up for clubs and get to know info from like the captains and like the presidents of each club which I think was very helpful for me because as a freshman I did not know how to register for soccer or any of the other clubs I'm in. And so it was very nice getting to know the captains and like the upper classmen cuz they're all very like inviting. And I think that's also why it's so important to have somebody in charge of clubs who really want to get to know the new people coming in and just help with the team and or the group. >> Yeah. Um I'll add on to that. Um, I had a friend, I want to say it was freshman or sophomore year, and she was pretty quiet, like outside of just our friend group, and she wanted to join soccer, but she never played it before, and she was so scared because she didn't know anybody. And I was telling her about my volleyball experience because I'd been with volleyball since my freshman year. And I was like, "You're going to make so many friends. Like, genuinely, you meet so many people and you learn so many lessons." And she finally decided to join and she still has friends from soccer to that day. And I just think it's like important to persuade and kind of talk about your own experience because I was telling her the amount of friends I made and it just kind of made her finally join. And although I know she's kind of like she's pretty scared when it comes to like not people of her own friends, she still ended up making friends. And I think it's just important to get out there and tell them about what you truly get from joining certain clubs and sports. And yeah, >> those were some great questions. Thanks everybody. One more and then we want to hear from the student council. >> Yeah. >> So as an alumni of Tartan, as an alumni of the original fat 10 that started holiday helping hand, as an original Santa Claus, um this today was a learning experience from you guys to us and you've given back a lot. This is huge for those of us that have been involved in this thing since the beginning and seeing what you guys are doing and hats off to staff. This has to be a super proud moment for you guys. I remember the that I gave staff when I was in high school and I know what you guys go through and it's pretty cool that you have students like this that are able to give back and do what they're doing and it's just really an aha moment here to I'm really glad you guys did this and that you're here and you were willing to take the time to come and actually teach us something. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Um, I want to introduce Allison Oolie and I am going to read her little bio because it it's no wonder why she's in charge of this group because wait till you hear this wrap sheet. Okay. So, and I happen to know know and adore her and has spent many times in her in many days in her class. So, I'm really uh happy to know you. And Katie too. Uh Allison, fifth year teaching math at Tartan, eighth year overall, as varsity assistant volleyball coach, adviser of GSA club, poetry club, and link crew at Tartan High School, third year working with Holiday Helping Hands. So, you guys come by this honestly, I think. So, welcome. Um, and thank you for bringing all the students. Allison, >> thank you. I just wanted to take a few moments to um thank you for the tradition that you've set. Um, before I was an adviser for student council, I was a teacher at Target and I knew the adviserss and I was the student council in my high school career and my biggest experience as a student was planning the dances and that was kind of the extent of my knowledge of what student council did. And when I came to Tarton, it was very evident that planning dances was the least of the concern of student council. And it was really impactful to hear all of the adviserss but the graduating seniors coming back and talking to me like my favorite part of student council is holiday opening hands. The event they look forward to most is holiday helping hands. The event that we plan for year round is holiday helping hands. So it is really heartwarming to see the tradition continue largely because of our students and their drive but because of the tradition and precedent that you've all set and how well it's run. Um, I I just show up and and coordinate, but the behind thescenes work is really truly impactful. And I just want to thank our crew from this year because every year it just is super fun. And it's really cool to see the students throughout the year come tell us like, "Hey, I have an idea for a fundraiser. Like, can we do this for holiday helping hands?" And it's not, they don't think about fundraising in terms of what can we buy for oursel. It's almost always like, "How can we put this towards Holiday Helping Hands? How many more kids do you think we can get? Are we going to get our goal of 100 kids this year? And each year we've gotten more than I thought we could. There was a point this year where I had to email our staff being like, I'm not sure if we can hit 100 kids this year. Things are financially just looking really hard. And our staff and our school community just really stepped up and we were able to sponsor more kids than we had in the previous years. So, um, just thank you for your work and for your building the tradition that we get to pass along to our students each year. We would not be able to be here and enjoy this moment without you. So, thank you. That's a wrap for today. I will tell you, I will get this fantastic video out into every genre I can. It'll be in the Tuesday tidbits. It'll be on our Facebook page. It'll I'll get it over to you folks at Tartan High School. And I don't know if you noticed, but at the end of the video, there's this QR code that'll take you right to the giving page. So, it's not too soon to go ahead and donate for 2026, Christmas 2026. Thank you everyone. Thank you so much. Thank you ladies.