Cornatzer Elementary students didn’t have far to go to do their Christmas shopping this year.

Their own team of Santa’s Little Helpers set up a Christmas Store in the school,

Headed up by mom and PTO member Charity Lauck, the store was full of goodies and open for a week for students to shop for their families. A team of volunteers was on hand to individually wrap and label all the purchases.

The Cornatzer Christmas Store has become a seasonal tradition and students save their pocket money to buy gifts on their shopping list. Filling the tables with more than 1,700 items priced between $1 and $5 is a major undertaking.

Fortunately, Lauck was born to shop. “I started shopping the day after Christmas last year and just kept going,” she said.

In order to keep prices as low as possible, Lauck hunts down bargains, special offers, sale and clearance items. “It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s absolutely worth every minute when I see the look on the children’s faces when they walk into our Christmas store at Cornatzer and see all the inexpensive things they can buy for their loved ones.”

Harris Teeter in Clemmons donated hundreds of paper grocery bags for students to carry home their gifts.

The store sold out by the end of the week.

So now, Lauck gets a short rest before she hits the stores again for next year.