The gifts, all packaged in homemade bags, came from the children of Marion Carson Elementary in Calgary, who spent the better part of November assembling and packaging stocking stuffers for their Northern counterparts.

A Nov. 19 news release from Calgary Board of Education billed "Operation Northern Lights" as a humanitarian effort the school undertook after hearing of the "difficult living situations students face" in Paulatuk on Darnley Bay.

Organizer Jocelyn Wilson, a Grade 1 teacher at Marion Carson, said it came about from a conversation she had with an old friend, Paulatuk teacher Laura-Lee Toews.

"We were just talking about the fact that the children in Paulatuk didn't always have the things at home, like pencils and paper and art supplies and things like that," Wilson says. "Laura Lee told me how expensive everything was, so what we were trying to do was give them a little hand."

Wilson said the initial idea was to provide art supplies but later, the project expanded to include basic hygiene items like combs, wash clothes and toiletries, things a Southern family might include in children's stockings. An enthusiastic Grade 4 teacher had her class sew 140 gift bags, while students in other classes gathered "gently-used" clothing items and toys from home to include in the bags.

"It was just an awesome experience for the children here," said Wilson. "Hopefully the kids in Paulatuk will have something a little extra special this year."

Surprise gifts

The effort came as a surprise to Toews, who only learned of the shipment about a week before it arrived. Angik School didn't have enough storage space for the many boxes, so Toews enlisted the help of the manager of the Northern Store, who is keeping the packages in his spare bedroom until the school can distribute them.

"The kids here are very creative they're artists and we can never have enough craft or art supplies," Toews says. She's been spending every evening since Nov. 28, labelling the gift bags, which will be given away at the Christmas concert Dec. 17.

Marion Carson Grade 5 student Rollend Scherger, 10, said he and his family had lots of fun gathering items to send.