"I never

expected this kind of turnout, I'm just so happy with the response,"

said Barnetta Sanford, a counselor at the school and organizer of the

drive. "This is a time of year when kids are so overwhelmed. These

kids really came through and I am so proud of them."

Sanford said

she conducted the drive to correlate with the character traits that students

had been studying late last year in their character education program:

friendship, kindness, generosity, compassion and sharing.

"I thought

that the act of giving would tie in nicely to the traits," she said.

Due to the

enormous volume of donations received at the school, a Marine from the

Toys for Tots program had to bring a U-Haul truck to the school to collect

all of the toys. Several students were on hand to greet Sgt. Paul Seibert

when he arrived at the school to receive the donations.