Montessori Children’s House (MCH) in Redmond brought Christmas magic to a Seattle homeless shelter this week.

For the second year in a row, MCH conducted a community-wide “basic needs” drive gathering daily toiletry items, hats and gloves, and other everyday items to Mary’s Place, a Seattle homeless shelter serving women and children.

After gathering donations at school and logging hours outside shopping hubs to collect donations, MCH students, ranging from first to sixth grade, delivered the items to the shelter themselves.

“It’s a learning moment to have our kids deliver the donations themselves instead of just celebrating the ‘gathering’ process,” said Head of School Jennifer Wheelhouse. “Seeing the shelter for themselves allows our students to make the connection and see that it’s not faceless people who deal with homelessness, it’s people who look just like them.”

As a result of the month-long drive, MCH gathered 716 pairs of socks, 70 hats, 230 jackets and clothing, almost 4,000 diapers, 140 sippy cups and almost 2,000 basic need items such as shampoo and feminine hygiene products.

Guard Well donated a truck for delivery day.