At McNary Heights Elementary School, something special has made a big comeback: the Little Angel Shoppe. The Little Angel Shoppe gives students the opportunity to choose items to give as gifts to their families. Every student gets to participate, and it is completely free.
This event was brought back by the Sunshine Committee at MHES. The Sunshine Committee is made up of one teacher or assistant from each grade level, plus some other school staff. They meet every month to plan things that cheer up the teachers and students.
The idea to start it again came from teachers on the committee who are alumni and remembered how important and how much fun it was when they were kids and got to shop for gifts. Tricia Lorence, an organizer of the Little Angel Shoppe and teacher at MHES, expressed, “That is what I think is such a huge highlight of this event, remembering what it meant and how special it was.”
The committee began preparations for the shop right away in October to allow students to shop before winter break started in December.
How does the shop work? Every student gets three tickets to pick three gifts from a big collection of donated items ranging from craft supplies, stuffed animals, books, coffee mugs, to jewelry. With nearly 700 students across 31 classrooms, the goal was to provide 2100 gifts, to ensure every student had the chance to choose their three items. Thanks to the generosity of the community, including donations from the Umatilla City Parks and Recs Department, school staff, and other community groups, the goal was met.
The committee also received much-needed support from a team of Amazon workers who dedicated their time to sorting and preparing the gifts, making the process go by much smoother. Mrs. Lorence expressed how thankful they were to have their help, saying, “We are fortunate to have them and those hours that they donated. We truly appreciated their time.”
After selecting their gifts, students returned to their classrooms to wrap them using donated wrapping paper. Mrs. Lorence said the shop went well and was an overall success. Volunteers did an excellent job guiding the students and making sure they were happy with their choices. Additionally, students were super excited and loved sharing with their classmates what they had picked for their families.
With this year's shop finished, the committee is already planning and preparing for next year's event. They plan to keep this tradition going for many more years to come.