Culver students donate toys, clothing as Christmas gifts for 160 children

“I think we should do a lot for our community and this is a great opportunity to give back, especially at Christmas time,” said Lily Payne ’25 W’21, co-chair of the Culver Academies’ Community Service Council. “I think it’s important we are able to share our love and share our love for the community.”

The gift donations are part of the Culver Community Christmas Basket Inc. effort, which seeks to help provide a more joyous holiday season to about 500 children and adults in and around the town of Culver who otherwise might not be able to afford it.

The program, backed by area churches and others, seeks to purchase two weeks of food, in addition to the gifts, and a Christmas dinner for area families in need. More than 60 percent of the families living in the Culver Community School Corp., which includes parts of Marshall, Starke, Fulton and Pulaski counties, qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The Culver students raised the money to buy gifts. The Culver Girls Academy hockey teams were the biggest contributors, raising money to buy gifts for 45 children.

“It’s meaningful to us because I know if I woke up on Christmas and didn’t have any gifts it wouldn’t feel so great. I know Christmas is more than giving gifts,” said Evelyn Latka ’25, captain of the U-19 prep team. “It feels great helping others.”

Atrium and Harbor dorms each purchased gifts for 17 children, Ciel bought gifts for 12, Battery B purchased gifts for 15 and Company B 8. Jackson Tharin ’26, one of the Community Service Council members leading the effort, said almost every dorm and barracks got involved.

“You could hear people going on Walmart trips and going to Target to buy gifts,” he said. “It was a good team-building opportunity. I feel I got to know my unit better.”  

Latka agreed.

“It’s a bonding event. It’s probably one of events we most look forward to,” she said. “Not only do you get to give back, but you are with your teammates and you are having a good time shopping for someone else. I look forward to it.”

Tharin talked about how much fun he and another student had buying presents for a 4-year-old who loves monsters and dinosaurs.

“So thinking that we got him some cool dinosaur pajamas and a monster truck really makes me happy,” he said.

Payne said the goal for Culver this year was to buy gifts for 145 children but because of an outpouring of support, they raised the number to 160.

“We could have taken on more but they ran out of children to give us, which is a good problem to have,” said Angie Strobel ’98, Culver Academies’ community engagement coordinator.

Groups at Culver taking part were asked to spend $40 to $50 on each child, half on toys and half on clothing. Students were provided with the ages and genders of the children and what they were asking for.

Student volunteers wrapped the gifts at the Schrage Leadership Center on two weekday nights.

Members of the Four-Gun Drill, the Artillery Battalion honor organization, used the school’s military trucks to transport food purchased at Park ‘n Shop to Culver Community High School on Friday, where students from both high schools unloaded the trucks. On Saturday, volunteers from the Academies and the community packed food boxes. Several Academies students helped first responders load the gift and food baskets, then the first responders delivered them to families on Sunday.