A gift for every child

By Kevin O’Brien

After an unspeakable tragedy claimed the lives of two young girls this past summer, students and teachers at Abbotsford Elementary have found a way to turn their sorrow into something to celebrate this Christmas season.

A toy drive started in the fall has collected enough items for each one of the school’s 370plus students to get a free gift just in time for Christmas. On Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 4 to 8 p.m., parents and other family members are invited to stop at the elementary school to pick up a wrapped gift for their child – or let the child pick one out themselves.

The school-wide gift giveaway is being held in honor of sisters Emily and Malanye, who were killed during a domestic incident in July. Thirdgrade teacher Tim Buttke previously had Emily in his class and believes she would have been one of the first students to jump at an opportunity to help her classmates.

“I know this is something that Emily would have loved to help out with,” he said. “She would have loved to give back to others.”

See TOY DRIVE/ Page 5

GIVING BACK - From left to right, Abbotsford Elementary students Aaliyah Mendoza, Maggie Weiland and Nella Schreiber display some of the many wrapped gifts to be given away at a toy drive event on Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 4 to 8 p.m. Enough toys have been donated or purchased with donations to provide a gift to every student at Abbotsford Elementary.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Toy drive

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Buttke said he didn’t know Malanye personally, but he knows the girls’ mother supports the initiative.

“I think the girls would have been proud to have their names on it, in memory of them,” he said.

The idea for a school-wide toy drive started off small, but continued to grow as the holidays got closer.

Buttke enlisted the help of his friend, business teacher Brett Nelson, who recruited some of his students to do a bake sale fundraiser. Nelson teaches an athletic administration class, which includes a unit on fundraising, so his students took a day just to promote the bake sale, deliver items and collect cash.

“That one actually fit really nice in the curriculum,” he said, noting that students have also contributed by wrapping gifts or baking items for the fundraiser.

As far as Buttke and Nelson are aware, Abbotsford Elementary has never held a toy drive like this before.

Buttke said their initial goal was to collect or purchase only enough gifts, about 300, for students whose families qualify for free and reduced price lunches, but when they reached that benchmark faster than expected, they decided to go all the way and get presents for every student regardless of income.

At this point, they have about 420 giftwrapped presents ready to go on Dec. 17.

“So, there’s roughly like 370 students in the elementary, so we’re going to have a gift for every elementary student (4K through fifth),” Buttke said.

To ensure that every student gets a gift and that the toys only go to Abby students, parents and other relatives will be asked to enter through the FEMA shelter doors and give the student’s name to a staff member who will check the name off a list.

The gifts will be sorted according to age, with one stack for those in four-year-old kindergarten through second grade and another for those in third through fifth grades.

“We really focused on as much hands-on activities as we could,” Buttke said. “The booster club donated, so we have a ton of basketball, volleyball, baseball and football- type gifts.”

The gifts also include arts-and-crafts projects and materials related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

Nelson said the overall goal was to provide kids with gifts that are not necessarily school-related but also encourage them to do something besides playing on smartphones and tablets. Buttke said he ran out of gift ideas at one point, so he had some fifthgrade students pick out items online for him to consider.

Parents should not feel shy about coming to claim their children’s gifts, the two teachers said, and they can feel free to attach their own names or “From Santa” on the presents.

“We just wanted to keep it really general so parents and kids can do it however they feel during the holiday season,” Nelson said. “It can be a tough time for a lot of kids, and for a lot of parents.”

“Maybe it frees up a little extra cash for Mom and Dad during the holiday season, or at the very least, let your kids come and get a free toy,” Buttke added.

‘A good memorial to them’

When they first started the toy drive, Buttke and Nelson said they did so quietly because they weren’t sure how many donations they would get.

“We didn’t know how successful we we’re going to be,” Buttke said.

A big boost came from school resource officer Patrick Leichtnam, who put the teachers in contact with the Salvation Army, which donated over $2,000. Wheelers Abbotsford Automotive had already given over $1,000, pushing them across the finish line for what they needed.

“The Salvation Army was truly the cherry on top,” Buttke said.

A majority of the gifts were selected and ordered online by Buttke and Nelson, but about 100 toys were donated directly. Community members are still welcome to donate gifts or contribute financially by reaching out to the school or making donations to the school district’s accounts at AbbyBank and Nicolet Bank.

With this being a first-time event, Nelson said he expects to run into a few glitches along the way, but he says they’ll learn from the experience and make adjustments in future years. He said they’re open to the idea of expanding it to include Colby students and others throughout Central Wisconsin.

“Our hope is that more people want to jump in for next year,” Buttke said.

Making the toy drive an annual tradition would put a silver lining on a very dark cloud. Buttke said the loss of Emily and Malanye has had a huge impact on the students and staff at Abbotsford Elementary, where class sizes are small and close-knit friends get to know each other starting in four-year-old kindergarten.

“It’s been hard for all of us – the kids, the adults, everybody involved,” he said. “I think this is just a good memorial to them.”