WEATHERLY -- The smiles on the faces of the people at Heritage Hill Senior Living Facility in Weatherly said it all. Four Weatherly Area Middle School students helped to make it all happen.
What started as an idea to give back to the community blossomed into something much bigger.
"They have just put smiles on these residents faces that I have not seen all year," executive director, Denise Langman said. "It's amazing."
Earlier this month the girls organized a toy donation and with that, they collected over 230 presents. Every single resident at Heritage Hill in Carbon County received two gifts.
"I'm so emotional about it because I love seeing all the joy on their faces," seventh-grader Kelly Michaels said. "It's so enlightening to see all of the smiles on their faces."
"It's really amazing to see all these residents reactions because the one almost cried and it was so sweet to see how they were so happy from these gifts," seventh-grader Madisyn von Frisch said.
"We got a ton more gifts than we expected we were going to get and we're extremely grateful for that," seventh-grader Crystal Kislan said.
"I felt awesome because they don't get this anymore and we made them feel like a kid again," sixth-grader Bethany Houser said.
Computer science teacher John McGee helped organize the holiday giving and says these girls have set the bar high.
"These four will hold a special place in my heart," McGee said. "I will never forget them. We've already started planning for next year, which is incredible. It's going to be their legacy."
Elizabeth Williams was thrilled to receive her gift. She enjoys art and just so happened to receive a coloring book by coincidence.
"I got a lovely shirt and I got a coloring book! A grown-up coloring book that's wonderful," Williams said. "I was just thinking, I was ready for a new one and this is great. I can't believe it. It's beautiful."
Pre-K students from Weatherly Area also sang Christmas carols to the senior citizens at Heritage Hill.
