If you walked into the Jim Thorpe High School auditorium this week, you might think you've entered Santa's secret workshop. Nearly a dozen students stood behind long tables, carefully wrapping gifts for 172 local children and their siblings.

Mountains of wrapping paper, gift bags and name tags lined each table as carefully-organized chaos began, led by members of the school's National Honor Society senior members. But while the gift-wrapping process is important, it's only one of many steps taken to ensure that every less fortunate child in the Jim Thorpe school district will have a gift this holiday season.The Jim Thorpe Rotary has been organizing this event for more than a decade, gathering the names of eligible children from local school counselors each year. Children from Penn Kidder, LB Morris, St. Joseph's, CCTI, and Head Start will benefit.Volunteers organize a list of each child's clothing size, and the sizes of their siblings. Each sibling also receives a gift. Once these lists are finalized, it's time to start shopping. Students from the CCTI marketing department, helped by adult volunteers and Rotary members, head to the malls. This year, 30 volunteers gathered more than 800 pieces of clothing."These students are marvelous," said Jim Thorpe Rotary President Bill Allison. "They're very quick, and we depend on them." The shopping trip takes about five hours, he added."We started at 9, and we finished at 2. We put in a very long day," said Allison.The annual program is sponsored by the Jim Thorpe Rotary Club, but couldn't happen without the help of community donations and volunteers, added Bob Stevenson, Rotary member and organizer of the event. Mauch Chunk Trust Company provides a matching grant, and two anonymous "angels" provided the remaining funds. The school's National Honor Society also donates its proceeds from the annual Rotary Calendar fundraiser."It starts with the rotary name, but we couldn't do this without the funding, and the labor provided by the kids shopping and the kids wrapping," said Stevenson. He added that it's a touching sight to watch the young students work, knowing that these gifts will benefit other local children in need.As the bell rang to signal the change of classes, some student volunteers left to return to their lessons. Others came into the auditorium to replace them, eager to begin wrapping. The teachers are overwhelmingly supportive of the program, even though it causes honor society members to miss some class time."They support us. It's for a good cause, and it's great for the whole community," said Oliver Schultz, president of Jim Thorpe National Honor Society. "Christmas is a fun time, and it gives us a good feeling to help kids in our area."