Hundreds of needy families will benefit from the charitable holiday efforts of the staff and students in the Oak Harbor School District.

Numerous food drives took place at schools throughout December. Accumulated were thousands of canned food items delivered to Help House, an Oak Harbor-based food bank that benefits local families.

Workers at Help House have been busy collecting food from various schools in the area.

Jean Wieman, director of Help House, said between 500 and 550 families are going to need assistance this year.That number is about the same as last year.

She said the week before Christmas is the busiest time of year and that the schools are a big help in meeting the needs of the community.

Students at Oak Harbor middle school collected more than 2,300 cans of food. Olympic View Elementary school turned its food drive into an educational activity as students tracked the number of cans collected and used them in measurement activities.

“The food drive was perfect for that,” said fifth-grade teacher Peggy Koch. “It’s one of those practical life skills that we make sure we’re covering in class.”

She added that the students didn’t collect the cans as part of a competition but just to help people out.

“They wanted an emphasis on giving to other people and I was so impressed by this,” Koch said.

Midway High School brought in more than 400 cans, which is higher than its 250 can goal.

Oak Harbor High School collected more than 2,000 cans for Help House. In addition to the food, volunteers accumulated hundreds of teddy bears that will be given to emergency services personnel who will hand them out to needy kids.

Several families are also going to have a festive Christmas this year thanks to the help of the staff at several schools.

Crescent Harbor Elementary School employees adopted two families for the holidays. They delivered enough food for a Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas gifts for both families.

Both families received their gifts earlier in the week after the staff at Crescent Harbor donated the items.

“The cool thing about this is no one really knows the families,” said Craid Dunnam, principal at Crescent Harbor Elementary School.

The staff at Hillcrest Elementary School adopted four families this year. Jeff Riffle, counselor at Hillcrest, said the school identifies needy families and asks the parents to give a list of family needs and a list of wishes from the children.

“We encourage the staff to get as much needs and wishes done as possible,” Riffle said.

They typically look for families that have encountered some kind of problem such as a recent divorce or job loss.

The Venture Club put up a tree of hope in the school district office. District staff adopts one child and tries to buy gifts from an individualized gift list. A pickup truck hauled the gifts away earlier in the week.

People’s charitable spirit will continue after the holidays are over.

The Broad View Elementary School PTA is holding a “Souper” Bowl food drive in early February.

In addition, students at Hillcrest Elementary School will be holding a food drive next spring. Riffle said its a good time to hold a food drive because donations can be slow during that time of the year.