HELPING OTHERS — Hills Elementary School students, from left, Dominic Harris, Jack Kinda and Aleni Wagner prepare chemo care bags which will be presented to representatives of the Tony Teramana Cancer Center on April 14. Students will be packing bags with snacks, games, journals and other goods, and they will be delivered to support patients undergoing treatment at the Steubenville facility. -- Contributed

MINGO JUNCTION — Hills Elementary School is preparing chemo care bags to support patients at the Tony Teramana Cancer Center in Steubenville.

Sarah Hibbits, a teacher at Hills, organized the service-learning project and said packing will occur once students return from Easter break, then the bags will be presented to representatives on April 14 at 12:45 p.m. in the school gym. Hibbits said the project has been an ongoing labor of love.

“We’re still on track to donate more than 200 bags and are packing them up on April 13,” she said. “That Friday, representatives of the Teramana Cancer Center will come, and we’ll present them with the bags.”

The school held a collection this winter, which included a two-week extension to ensure all items were received, and students will pack the bags for the presentation. Colorful totes will be filled with a variety of goods from snacks and games to journals, while students also created cards and teacher Kim Wadas crocheted Worry Worms to add a little extra comfort.

Among the items patients will receive are individually packaged snacks, saltines, bottled water, Gatorade, gum, mints, hard candy, Tootsie Pop and Dum-Dum suckers, tuna and chicken lunch packs with crackers, Chapstick, lotion, Biotene or other dry mouth products, wet wipes, tissues, Sea Band wristbands, reusable plastic cups or water bottles, hats, scarves, blankets, slipper socks, puzzle books, adult coloring books, notebooks, journals, pocket calendars, playing cards, pens and pencils as well as puzzles, card games, Bibles, ear buds and stress reliever balls.

“We extended the collection for two weeks and, fortunately, we had a few people who pitched in and donated the remainder of the items we still needed,” Hibbits added. “We have longtime benefactors who have been very supportive. With a project this big, it really does take a community to make it happen.”

She started the project while teaching at the former Wintersville Elementary School. It has included Cross Creek Elementary in the past, but Hills led the collection on its own this year.

National Honor Society members will help load the bags into a utility van while Hibbits, teachers Amanda Roach and Kim Carnahan and Principal Makenzie Householder will deliver them to the center for patients undergoing treatment.

The service-learning project is now in its eighth year, and Hibbits said it has been a highlight for Hills.

“The nurses get so excited about it, which tells us this project is appreciated and warranted.”