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National Junior Honor Society members at Oak Mountain Middle School load toys to be donated to Toys for Tots on Monday, Dec. 9. (REPORTER PHOTOS/KEITH MCCOY)

NORTH SHELBY – Oak Mountain Middle School students donated more than 1,800 toys to Toys for Tots at a special assembly on Monday, Dec. 9, that has become an annual tradition.

The school collected $2,500 for the effort, surpassing the goal of $20,000, and National Junior Honor Society officers shopped for toys at the Walmart store off U.S. 280 in the Inverness/Brook Highland area the morning of Dec. 9, before the afternoon assembly, which was begun by Principal Larry Haynes and NJHS Officer Anna-Scott Gingras.

“Thanks to everyone’s hard work and willingness to give, hundreds of children in our area will wake up to gifts Christmas morning,” NJHS Officer Bebe Moore said at the assembly. “In fact, we were able to purchase 1,858 toys this morning while shopping. It is our sincerest wish that these toys will not merely represent material things, but that they will bring joy and hope to the children who receive them.”

Fellow NJHS Officer Leena Dang detailed the fundraiser, which included grade levels competing to collect the most money.

The OMMS sixth grade collected $4,976.26, seventh grade collected $5,782.02 and the eighth grade collected $9,005.04.

NJHS officers thanked the school faculty, community and sponsors including Move Daddy, Walmart, Griffin Park Women’s Group, Rep. Arnold Mooney, Church at Brook Hills and the United States Marine Corps.

While NJHS members loaded the toys onto a truck to be delivered, the rest of the school participated in a Christmas sing-along.

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