Members of this year’s Student Council at Newtown Middle School spent time after school on Monday, October 26, to rake, plant mums, and set up decorations as part of the group’s annual Fall Beautification Day.

Nearly 30 students joined in the effort on Monday, and Student Council advisors oversaw the after school event.

One group of students worked to put lettering in one of the school’s signs to read, “Fall into a good book, bring a friend.”

The Student Council is also continuing its Food Drive. The group collects items each year for Women Involved in Newtown (WIN) and its annual Thanksgiving Baskets campaign. Other local schools also collect for the campaign.

Items will be collected at NMS this year until November 20.

Students may bring in items to their homeroom each morning during the food drive, and the public can drop off donation items at the school’s main office weekdays. A food drive collection bin is also placed in the school’s lobby for family members to use.

WIN’s Thanksgiving Baskets program is a town wide drive to provide local families food to last from Thanksgiving into the holiday season. Social Services compiles a list of families in need in the Newtown area, which is kept confidential, and WIN matches participating organizations with a family or donations are matched with a family’s need.

Items are delivered to residents who have requested help in time for Thanksgiving, with additional supplies to help the individual residents, couples and families through the holiday season.