Teenagers giving up their own Christmas to give the less fortunate gifts? Raising money to help needy families?

No this isn’t a joke, or the theme of an old Any Griffith episode.

Oak Mountain Middle School has broken the national record for donating toys to Toy for Tots. The best part is the record they broke was their own.

Last year, the middle school raised $35,335 for the program, and this year their donations totaled more than $42,000.

For the kids, this meant sacrifices many students are

unwilling to make.

We like how these students break the mold.

Is there any way we could make this a county-wide competition?

Imagine how many unfortunate children would get a Christmas if the $42,000 from one school because around $42,000 from several schools.

Rivals are rivals, whether it be in football or in fundraising.

We spend money painting and decorating our cars to sport our Panther or Yellowjacket spirit, so lets put our friendly competitive attitudes toward making a difference.

And why should the fun be left simply to school?

Businesses can join in as well as Toys R Us did by matching toy for toy Oak Mountain Middle brought in.

Perhaps your local business could match a portion of the amount of money raised by a school in your area.