In the spirit of the season, #GPJoy takes on many forms. Guest blogger and Boston-based Senior Strategist, Jillian Berry, shares one school community’s heartfelt joy received through the selfless giving of time, talent and generosity:

Written by Jill Berry, Senior Strategist, George P. Johnson

When my sister started working at a new school this past September, she saw many children in need. As the winter approached, we put our heads together to help. I knew I could count on my co-workers here at GPJ. Thus began the North Junior High Winter Gift Drive.

We teamed up with Adriana Alicea, School Adjustment Counselor at North Junior High, who reached out to families in need. Forty families were considered “high need” at the school, and each family was able to choose 1-2 gifts to put on the list.

Our GPJ Boston community came together in full force – purchasing 60 toys, crafts and games, plus much needed underwear, travel bags, sweatpants and long-sleeved shirts for the children in need. The gift drive was capped off with a “wrap party” to wrap up all the gifts.

When Alison Ramsay, Principal at North Junior High, saw all the gifts, all she could say was “thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The numbers:

60 toys, crafts and games

15 packages of underwear, sweatpants and long sleeve t-shirts

24 minutes: time it took for the team to wrap all 60 gifts

For more ways you can spread the joy to those who need it most, read our blog post about GPJ’s partnership with One Simple Wish in their support of children in the foster care system.