COLUMBIA FALLS - Every special adult in a child's life deserves a special gift around the holidays and Ruder Elementary School in Columbia Falls is making that happen.
The Ruder PTO collects generous monetary donations from various businesses and associations in the valley and purchases gifts for kids to “shop” for and give to the special adults in their life.
The families that can pay for the gifts are asked to pay, but through generous donations, all the children at Ruder get to pick out at least one gift. It takes months of planning and hours to wrap the 1,600 gifts, but the PTO is happy to do it for the children.
“Just to spread Christmas cheer and make sure you know that every child gets to experience something really magical before Christmas. When you see the smiles on the kids' faces it makes it all worthwhile,” said Tracy Day, a member of the Ruder Elementary School PTO.
This is the second year of the Ruder Elementary Gift Shop, and the PTO plans to continue the tradition next year and will be looking for donations.
