Gurnee high school students helping collect Christmas gifts for Chicago Public Schools students

GURNEE, Ill. (CBS) -- An organization and a north suburban school are helping thousands of Chicago Public Schools students with their Christmas wish list.

Students at Warren Township High School in north suburban Gurnee pitched in on Thursday, transforming into Santa's helpers to collect gifts for CPS students.

Amelia Serrano, 17, has helped with the Letters to Santa program for the past four years.

"I'm a person who loves community service, and just being able to bring joy to these kids during the holidays. Ever since I was little, my family has always been the one at church to pick up the little angel tree gifts," she said.

Sandy Desiron is the head elf, who's also a math teacher and student council advisor. She said Warren Township High School has participated in Direct Effect Charities' Letters for Santa program for the past 24 years.

"I think it was a community service project from our National Honor Society, and they would only take on about two- or three-hundred gifts, and they would hand them out. They wouldn't track them at all. They would just trust that people would turn them in," she said.

They're now able to help fulfill more than 600 Christmas gift requests from CPS students. Direct Effect Charities reaches out to donors to help answer the letters and purchase the presents.

"Somehow I've managed to do this for 25 years. I don't know how," founder Michelle DiGiacomo said. "Sometimes I think I might be a little partially Santa Claus. I don't know, but I love it, and it makes me happy."

DiGiacomo said her initial goal was to help 5,000 students at schools in Chicago. She surpassed that number, and gathered 5,700 gifts with help from others, like Warren Township students, but her new goal is to reach 6,000 gifts by Tuesday.

"You know, we always have to give it a little more than we did the year before, just in case," she said.

Warren Township High School said they're expecting these gifts will be picked up on Friday. Then next Friday will be the big day for students at Nixon Elementary School, who will open the gifts from Warren Township.

To donate to the effort, you can send an email to michellecomo@gmail.com.