Photo captions:  (Photo 1) Amelia Patrick, Amy Grimes, sponsor of the National Junior Honor Society, Segeant Julio Mezamedina, and Olivia Shivers are pictured with just a few of the toys purchased for Toys for Tots.  (Photo 2) Oak Mountain Middle School students assist Marines in loading the toys, which completely filled the transport vehicle.  (Photo 3)  Two huge piles of toys were displayed for the students to see during the Toys for Tots Christmas Assembly, held December 9 at OMMS.

 Each year, Oak Mountain Middle School students set a goal of $20,000 for the local Toys for Tots campaign.  And each year they not only reach that goal, but they exceed it, guaranteeing that many deserving children in Central Alabama will have presents under their Christmas trees.

 This year the students raised $28,605.  The school has raised nearly $300,000 since it first began its annual Toys for Tots campaign in 1999.  The school holds the national record for the largest school donation for Toys for Tots with $42,000 raised in 2006.

 The Oak Mountain Toys for Tots project is lead by the National Jr. Honor Society.  On Monday, December 9, the National Jr. Honor Society students spent the money on new toys at the Toys-R-Us in Hoover.   The United States Marine Corps, who sponsors Toys for Tots, attended the school’s Christmas Assembly that same afternoon at 2:00 p.m. to pick up the toys.