Twelve students from Chase Middle School last Friday went on a $600 shopping spree for a good cause.

The young shoppers, along with a group of smiling teachers and parents, went to the White Elephant Store on East Sprague to buy presents for the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery, which will distribute them to needy children.

During the first two weeks of December, Chase students raised more than $1,200 in a “Penny Drive.”

Associated Student Body officers voted to give half the money to the crisis nursery and half to the Martin Luther King Jr. Outreach Center, which also used the money to aid needy families.

Since the nursery accepts only new toys and clothing, the ASB officers had to skip class and go toy shopping.

“I’m missing environmental studies,” seventh-grade ASB representative John Burdick said with a grin.

An hour’s worth of shopping netted four large boxes of toys.

The gifts will be distributed to needy children in the community as well as the 14 children currently staying at the nursery, said Kelly McPhee, the nursery’s development director.

“It’s very heartwarming when you have children helping children,” McPhee said of Chase’s fund drive.

The nursery, whose mission is to prevent child abuse, can care for up to 14 children, age 6 years or younger.

“We try to be a resource for families,” McPhee said.

“Very often we’ll have families drop their children here because the homeless shelters are full, or the parents may be sleeping in a car or park and they want their children to be safe,” she said.

ASB adviser Deborah Chaffin had handed students a three-page wish list provided by the nursery’s outreach director.

The wishes of 100 children, listed by first name, included baseball cards, baby dolls, Doodle Bears, Legos, Play Dough, books, and toy cars and trucks.

“I need a doll that does something, like cry or burp,” said Chelsea Lawson, an eighth-grader stalking the aisles to fufill a little girl’s request.

Chelsea’s efforts were rewarded when she found a doll that clapped its hands together when she rubbed its stomach.

“This is fun, shopping for kids’ stuff,” she said.

Chaffin, the ASB adviser, divided students into four teams and the list into four parts.

“If we’re going to get everything, we can’t spend more then $10 per toy,” Chaffin told the groups.

“Hey I’ve got a Barbie doll on my list,” said Burdick, who appeared overwhelmed by an aisle full of Barbie dolls.

But eighth-grader Brynn Bauermeister, ASB vice president, offered Burdick guidance: “Make sure it’s a decent Barbie. The one in the gold swimsuit isn’t going to work. Remember, this is for a 6-year-old girl.”

Burdick found a suitable Barbie, and Chaffin added it to the pile of toys the store clerk was busily ringing up.

As the students watched Chaffin, teacher Kevin Smith and parent Ron Guderjohn load four large cardboard boxes of toys in their cars, Burdick said, “I kind of like shopping for other people. It’s fun spending money on needy kids.”

, DataTimes