On the night of Dec. 10, 15 McNeil clubs and organizations teamed up and delivered gifts to the people currently residing at Texas Baptist Children’s Home in Round Rock.

“TBCH was not only for the kids, it was a great way for McNeil students to meet other people from other clubs,” senior Ashlie Meckley said.

The children and parents who live on the campus have a background of family troubles and personal crisis. Through this event, these people connected with the community. Likewise, McNeil students experienced the joy of gift-giving as the children opened up their first gifts before Christmas.

“My favorite part was seeing the smiles on the kids faces as they opened the presents,” Meckley said. “It was so inspiring and brought a joy to my heart that you can’t even describe.”

With a further boost to holiday spirits, the mood rose even higher when students began caroling. Through the chilly night, students sang “Deck the Halls,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Jingle Bells”  to select cottages. The songs were received with smiles and applause from children and adults alike.

“It was nice because everyone was singing popular tunes and the people we were singing to had great big grins and looked extremely happy,” sophomore representative of Student Council Pranav Pradhan said.

Before the event, clubs hosted various wrapping parties to get all the presents organized and ready for delivery. The lecture hall and various classrooms were filled with students. Pizza was provided for the party by Student Council, the main coordinator of the event, and members of various clubs all came together to prepare for the big occasion.

“The wrapping party was really fun,” senior Alina Jafferbhoy said. “Lots of different clubs got to come together, do stuff for other people, and bond at the same time. It was great that people had fun helping others.”

Throughout TBCH, the event sponsor Vicki Renfro of Student Council had one goal in mind: to provide gifts and Christmas spirit to the residents at the children’s home. Reflecting back, Renfro said that the goal was definitely met.

“I saw groups of high school students excited about giving to someone who may not have as much as they have and providing the first bit of Christmas spirit before the actual holidays,” Renfro said. “And in response, the children were absolutely thrilled.”