Joseph Martin Elementary School is helping feed people for Christmas through its Giving Tree food drive for the Manna House. It is a JME tradition to have a canned food drive for Thanksgiving, where students and parents donate food. However, this year JME decided to focus on Christmas meals.

Karen McDonald, gifted-resource teacher and food drive organizer said that the school wanted to do something different because the focus is often on donating toys, but there are people who won’t have anything to eat on Christmas Day.

Every year the school gets a Christmas tree from Brewer’s Christmas Tree Farm in Midway. The tree is decorated with a holiday nautical theme and canned goods are stacked underneath the tree. Collections end Thursday, and local residents are welcome to bring in cans for the Giving Tree.