Operation Santa Claus Exceeds Expectations

One of the great traditions at the prep, Operation Santa Claus, our yearly Christmas toy drive to our surrounding community, was once again a tremendous success. Starting in early November, the call went out to all Prep families for donations for the drive. A goal of just over 740 items was set for the donation portion of the drive. That would be enough for 60 different families to have a Christmas. We flew past that goal, in the end totaling an incredible 895 items donated spread across 181 individual donors. The total equated to nearly $17,000 in total donations. A truly staggering number that shows how amazingly dedicated the Prep community is to service and our neighbors. Donations included basketballs, dolls, books, and baby toys. There were gifts donated for kids of all ages.

The roaring success of the donation period led to the second step of Operation Santa Claus, present wrapping. On everyone’s favorite advisory, Prep students wrapped the donated presents to varying degrees of skill. The process has become its own tradition at the Prep. It feels really good to wrap presents, knowing that you are going to make someone very happy on Christmas day. On Thursday, Operation Santa Claus came to a climax, as students delivered the presents across our north Philadelphia neighborhood.

Over 60 families in our neighborhood will have a tremendous Christmas due to the efforts of Mr. Callaghan and the entire Prep community. It is with tremendous appreciation that the Hawkeye, and the rest of the Prep community, thank Mr. Callaghan for his work. Without the tremendous amount of effort put in by him, many families would have a much worse Christmas. The generosity of Prep students, faculty and family is perhaps illuminated most by Operation Santa Claus.