Kleefeld School went above and beyond their goal of collecting 1,500 pounds of food and toys to donate to Grunthal Caring Hands.

School counselor Christine Friesen says they collected 1,200 pounds of food and toys last year and this year the total came to 2,187.5 pounds.

"We surpassed the goal four or five days ago and we had those two snow days. So this is minus two days of our drive. I'm not sure what would have happened [had we been at school those two days], but we are thankful for what we did get."

Friesen notes it's a huge task to organize the drive each year adding her favourite part is seeing the students work together as a team to collectively gather food and toys for people in the community.

"I believe that's a good part of the drive. We call it Shine Your Light, so the school is aware that we are the lights and we're shining out to brighten other people's worlds as well."