BROWNSTOWN — In pairs, Brownstown Central Middle School Tribal Council members exited the Brave Bus, walked into Walmart in Salem, grabbed a cart and made their way around the store.

Most of them headed to the toy department. Some ventured into the health and beauty aids area.

Each pair had a list of the gender they were shopping, the number of kids and their ages. It was up to them to take themselves back to that age and figure out what to buy.

The 20 students had a combined $5,100 to spend on Christmas gifts for 225 kids ages 12 and under being helped through the Brownstown Christmas Cheer program.

The Tribal Council, under the direction of advisers Alicia McCrary and Kelly Cunningham, continued its tradition of supporting the Brownstown community initiative that provides toys and food to local families at Christmastime.

The food will come from a nonperishable food drive at Brownstown Elementary School. Then the Christmas Cheer committee will distribute the toys and food to families.

So where did the Tribal Council get the money to shop? Several fundraisers were conducted at the school leading up to the shopping day Dec. 7.

“We had open gym. The kids stay after school and they pay $2, and they just get to play basketball, volleyball and cornhole, and we sell concessions there,” McCrary said.

They also organized a school dance and penny wars and sold healthy snacks and water. Plus, students paid to wear pajamas to school one day, staff members paid to wear jeans on another day and some outside donations were given.

“I was kind of worried this year with just how much everything costs now and so many more people are struggling, I feel like, but our donations still came in,” McCrary said.

The Tribal Council members change some each year, and McCrary said it’s always fun to see them work together to raise money and then get an opportunity to shop for gifts.

“I just always like watching them really think through what other people would like and just to think outside themselves for just a little bit and to try to get the most for their money,” she said. “They think about their siblings sometimes, too, like, ‘What if my little brother, this is the only Christmas he got, what would he want?’ It’s nice to see our kids think through this.”

Eighth-graders Tucker McCrary and Chase Blann had the task of shopping for gifts for 7-year-old boys.

“We think of stuff that we liked when we were 7-year-olds,” McCrary said.

“I just like to think about the stuff I would really want, and if I couldn’t get that, I’d be pretty upset,” Blann said.

This was Blann’s second time helping with the effort and McCrary’s first.

“Just getting toys for kids that don’t normally get anything,” McCrary said of what he liked about it.

“It helps a lot of people,” Blann said.

Seventh-grader Abbie Watson said this was her second time shopping with the Tribal Council, and she was paired with first-timer Laura Terrell, a sixth-grader.

“I thought it was really fun because you get to help other kids that don’t really get things for Christmas, and so instead of thinking of what you want for Christmas, you get to pick what other kids get, and you really hope that they enjoy what you pick out for them,” Watson said. “I think it’s fun because you’re enjoying looking for them, and so when they are going to open it, you can just kind of see how they enjoy it.”

Terrell liked the opportunity to bond with fellow Tribal Council members.

“You work with friends, and then you get to learn that don’t just worry about yourself during Christmas, that there are other people that also need stuff,” she said. “We all get to come together, and I don’t know half the Tribal Council people that are already doing it. We’re getting closer together shopping.”

Watson said she liked seeing what other members picked out for kids.

“You can hang out with people, and after this, we’ll out to eat, and you can talk to your friends that you normally don’t really talk to at school,” she said.

While Alicia McCrary has been part of the effort for about a dozen years, this year was unique because her son, Abram McCrary, niece, Laura Terrell, and nephew, Tucker McCrary, were involved.

“That’s really a nice experience to see them get to give back and help others,” she said.

For all of the Tribal Council members, Alicia said there’s an important takeaway from the experience.

“I just hope they they remember what it feels like to help others and that they continue to carry this through their life and this doesn’t stop here,” she said.

“I feel like sometimes, we only hear negative things about kids, like the kids are changing, but they are really not,” she said. “We’re very fortunate to have a school full of great and caring kids. These 20 get to shop, but our entire school came together to raise the money. Kids were walking in emptying their piggy banks into this penny wars, and we made $700 off of change, and that’s just from kids giving to kids, so that’s just really awesome.”