ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP — This Christmas season is merrier and brighter for dozens of area families, thanks to the generosity of Rock Hill High School students.

The school’s National Honor Society organized a canned food drive and collected 1,607 food items — a great success considering the initial goal was only 1,000 food items.

While most of the students needed no exhortation to donate and did so without any prompting, a scant few did and senior Levi Dalton said he provided it.

“I went to all the freshmen home rooms and guilt-tripped them,” he said with a smile. And it worked.

The freshmen contributed 1,025 of the 1,607 food items.

The honor society also raised $2,000 and bought Christmas presents for 16 needy students.

“I’m really proud of them,” honor society adviser Christine Craft said. “They chose things the kids needed but would still be fun for them.”

The school’s student council and Spanish Club did their part, too.

The student council raised money and bought Christmas toys for area children for Christmas, as did the Spanish Club. Some of the donated items went to needy children in the school system, some of it went to the Ironton City Mission to give out in its holiday toy boxes.

Spanish Club members also donated more than 30 shoe boxes to the international organization, The Samaritan’s Purse, for its annual Operation Christmas Child program that gives kids in other countries a shoe box filled with Christmas gifts and the story of The Nativity in their own language.

Student Aaron Hanshaw is a member of both the student council and the Spanish Club. He said he hopes the recipients realize “There are people who understand. We think they deserve a good Christmas, too.”

Spanish Club Adviseor Tamela Reed agreed. “Sometimes high school students get a bad rap,” she said. “Some of them have big hearts and they care about other people.”