IN THE PIPELINE:

Merry Christmas! If you’re taking a moment during this precious time of the year to read some local news, I thought the best gift I could provide would be the stories of two groups of students, one small and one large, but both equal in their efforts to make these holidays better for those around them.

Earl Ziemann, the popular Marina High history teacher, phoned me last week. What prompted the call was a group of juniors in one of his classes, a quartet of young ladies who were in the midst of a charitable whirlwind. For more than 10 years, Ziemann and other teachers at Marina have collected food for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. In the last few years, Ziemann has issued challenges to his students to get involved in the process, creating a lighthearted inter-class competition to see who could acquire the most food for the needy. This year, he noticed one particular group of girls — Melissa Johnson, Julie Haduong, Jacquline Imel and Aubrey Pinkus — taking things to the next level — collecting hundreds and hundreds of cans of food in a show of charity he had never witnessed from one group of students.

“The kids love to pitch in each year,” he told me. “But what these girls are doing is off the chart.”

I met the foursome in Ziemann’s classroom one afternoon as they planned their course of action for that evening — their last night of collecting food. They wanted to finish big, pushing the class total to more than 2,000 cans of food, and it was pretty clear to me their determination would pay off.

Speaking for the group, Melissa said getting inspired this season to collect this much food sort of caught her and the others off guard.

“Something just happened,” she said. “We started going door to door with a little wagon and once people started responding to us by donating cans of food, something clicked and we realized this could be big — that we could really help a lot of people this holiday.”

So door-to-door they went, pleading their case and in most cases, coming away successfully with food. They built up a virtually unsurpassable lead among other classes, which just pushed them even harder.

Best of all, the experience seems to have left a halo effect around the girls, something that will motivate them to do more charitable work throughout the year.

“Kids our age sometimes get caught up in our own little bubbles,” Melissa said. “So this experience was great because it reminded us that there are lots of people right here in our neighborhoods that need help, and so by getting out of the house and doing what we’re doing, we can really make a difference.”

In a Christmas season that’s presenting more financial challenges than ever before, it’s easy to be thankful for a group of kids like this.

For making a positive difference, we thank you Melissa, Julie, Jacquline, Aubrey, Ziemann and everyone else who helped out at Marina.

Not too far away at Harbour View School, Principal Cindy Osterhout had a reason to be proud as well. When former Mayor Dave Sullivan suggested having all 800 kids at the school write letters to each and every firefighter and police officer in Huntington Beach, Osterhout enthusiastically agreed that it would be a great idea.

“It’s all about goodwill. To say thanks for keeping us safe, we thought it would be more appropriate,” she said. “Plus, this particular season, giving a gift of thanks versus gifts that cost money seemed like a good lesson for the kids as well.”

So write the kids did, hundreds and hundreds of letters to the men and woman who keep us safe in Huntington Beach. Specially chosen students presented the letters at the City Council last week and some of the men and women have already started answering the letters from the kids — thus forging the important bonds between children and the people who serve them. Osterhout sees this as what can become an ongoing outreach program and a way to express appreciation to those who lay their lives on the line every day.

Much like Charlie Brown, I grouse sometimes that the holiday season gets mired down in too much commercialism and consumerism. But these aforementioned examples of giving remind me what the holidays are truly about — like what Linus says at the end of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” remember? “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men.”

Right on, Linus.

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 15 books, including the new “Vanishing Orange County.” Write him at [email protected].