Members of the Newtown High School Marching Band & Guard put down their instruments and flags and picked up rolls of festive paper, tape, and bows for their second annual Gift Wrapping Event on December 10 and 11. But the students are not done gift wrapping, yet.

Due to the popularity of the event, the NHS Marching Band & Guard members will be at it again on Sunday, December 18, from noon to 4 pm in the NHS old cafeteria, 12 Berkshire Road. Drop-ins are welcome, and RSVPs are requested by going online to forms.gle/y6kmnzgQB6MentuA7.

Wrapping paper, tape, bows, gift tags, and wrapping will be provided in exchange for a donation of $1-$3 per gift.

For the event, NHS Marching Band & Guard students and their parents wrapped hundreds of holiday gifts for Newtown residents who enjoyed getting some precious time back, in exchange for a donation to support the band and guard, December 10 and 11.

“At this time of year, families are especially busy,” said Dianna Pategas, president of the NHS Band Parents Corporation. “If we’re able to take something off of their plates and generate some of the philanthropic support the NHS Band & Guard students need to support their annual program, everybody wins.”

This year, the students had an unexpected request from a group of workers from Mulvaney Mechanical, Inc, who were present to replace several of the school’s large air handlers during the weekend.

“The crew lead asked if we could wrap anything, and I said we could for an appropriate donation,” said Pategas.

As a result, the students gift wrapped the work van of one of the Mulvaney employees.

“The van’s driver came by Sunday afternoon and thanked us for making their crew’s weekend job at Newtown High School so memorable!” said Pategas in an email.