Two Valley schools host annual gift exchange to help each other's communities
Two Mahoning Valley school districts met in Columbiana on Monday to host their annual gift exchange that aims to benefit each other's communities.
Students within both the Crestview Local School District and the Springfield Local School District hold a friendly competition to donate items to each other's community.
Then, to celebrate their achievements and to exchange gifts, both schools met on Monday at a McDonald's in Columbiana.
Rachel Lattanzio, a sixth-grade math teacher at Crestview Local School District, told 21 News more about how the exchange works.
"We collect toys for ages zero up to fourteen, and the whole idea of our exchange is that we exchange with Springfield so that none of the toys we collect go to the same community as they are collected from, so that none of the kids are seeing gifts that they themselves collected," said Lattanzio.
Items collected during the 2025 competition included:
- Toys
- Non-perishable food items
- Baby items, such as diapers, bottles and blankets
- Clothing
- School supplies
According to a release outlining the event, the tradition has been ongoing for three decades, and the districts have gathered and donated over 30,000 items in that time span.
The tradition began with Melanie Workman, a guidance counselor at Springfield Intermediate School, and her husband Scott.
Scott has since retired, but the yearly event is being continued by Crestview teacher and Springfield alum Matt Evans, according to the release.
Both Workman and Lattanzio said that the event is important because it helps students understand the need in their community and the importance of helping others.
"I feel like it teaches the kids about caring, compassion and empathy, and that some people are having a hard time, and we want to do what we can to help them," said Workman.
"You don't know who in this school is in need. You know? We're all here, we're all mixed in. You know, it might be your friend who's not going to have something for Christmas and you will," said Lattanzio.
