Jackson Gardner | Website Editor

With Christmas spirit in the air, this season is all about giving back. Some students have decided to give back to their community in a very unorthodox way: “Jamistmas.”

“When I was in middle school, I saw one of my friend Jamison Ward’s posts on Instagram where he was making an interesting face. So I saved it. The week before Christmas break I decided to print out the photo and pass it around for Christmas, thus starting Jamistmas,” creator of Jamistmas, junior Jackson Keeley said.

While this was originally a prank, the tradition of Jamistmas has taken a more helpful cause.

”Although Jamistmas started out as a friendly joke, it has turned its growth into an opportunity to help those in need this season,” sophomore Mara Bastin ’20 said.

Starting this year, the Jamistmas collaborators will be collecting new or gently used socks to give to the Johnson County United Way charity.

“I really wanted the holiday feel of Jamistmas to be more present in the actual school rather than my five Instagram followers, so I gathered a group of my friends and we began to make our sock fundraiser,” Keeley said.

Keeley and his friends have been working for the past few weeks to get the word out about the fundraiser. They have posted on social media and hung posters around the school.  

“The fundraiser made my dumb joke turn into something that can actually make a difference,” Keeley said.

Anyone who donates socks this week can take a Jamistmas face mask or a version of two stickers as a reward.

“Hopefully the Jamistmas cheer will make this stressful week a little more enjoyable,” Keeley said.

Students involved with Jamistmas will be collecting socks during all lunches from Wednesday through Friday. Make sure to bring in socks to help out the homeless community in Center Grove.

Merry Jamistmas!