Seniors at JSerra Catholic High School and U.S. Marines on Thursday formed a holiday assembly line, handing along crates and boxes packed with Christmas presents from the school’s main entrance to the cab of a 25-foot truck.
The donated gifts, totaling close to $77,000, were then delivered to Marine families at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms as part of JSerra’s annual Operation Christmas Love campaign.
The presents were given by families, school clubs, sports teams and classrooms, with each group adopting a Marine family, and in some cases more than one. Information about each family’s needs is provided to JSerra before the campaign begins.
The campaign benefits JSerra students as much as it helps the families receiving the donated items, said Bridget Desmond, JSerra’s dean of students.