Clover High students play Santa, hand out stockings for Lake Wylie veterans

Students from Clover High helped pass out 40 stockings to senior veterans Wednesday afternoon in York County, spreading holiday cheer to young and old alike.

The students, most of them part of the school’s Interact Club, visited with seniors at the Lake Wylie Assisted Living on Charlotte Highway in Lake Wylie and the Carolina Gardens assisted living facility in York.

Peggy Flint, a member of the Clover Community YMCA, made the stockings after fashioning together materials from cast-off blue fabric used to make American flags. According to Laura Keistler with the YMCA, Flint collected surplus fabric from a Gaffney factory and made 120 stockings on her own time.

The YMCA community then created its own “Adopt a Veteran” stocking program, where members chipped in treats and gifts to fill the stockings for home-bound seniors or residents of long-term care facilities.

“It was unbelievable what they did to help,” Keistler said.

Keistler then recruited the Clover High students to join the mission. Nearly 15 students turned out Wednesday to start handing out the stuffed stockings. Many of the students received heartfelt thanks and broad smiles.

“Some of them were very happy of how we thought of them,” said Payton Jubenville, president of the school’s Interact Club.

The remaining stockings will be delivered later this week, Jubenville said.

The residents at Lake Wylie Assisted Living are always happy to see visitors, according to Robert Pila.

“When you get the kids come in from high school, middle school, elementary school, it’s a breath of fresh air, a form of appreciation,” Pila said.

Keistler said Flint is already working on stockings for the 2018 holiday season.

Those interested in learning more about the “Adopt a Veteran” stocking program can contact Keistler at 803-831-9622.

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Clover High students play Santa, hand out stockings for Lake Wylie veterans."