Students at Dickinson Avenue Elementary School chose to help families in need this holiday season by creating a Holiday Helper Tree.

Caitlin Bisulca, an elementary counselor, started the initiative as a way to show the children that they have the power to help others. “When we all work together, we can make a difference.,” she said. 

Every student at the school, regardless of their grade level, were invited to decorate a holiday candle and return it with $1 to be donated to families in need for the holidays. “Many children and families were excited that their children were able to take from their own piggy banks to help others,” Ms. Bisulca said, adding that the students raised $166 in total.

The candles were then hung on a holiday tree at Dickinson Avenue to serve as a visual representation of how the students came together as a community to help others.