Christmas came early for the preschoolers of Minot Forest Elementary School, but it wasn't in the form of toys from jolly ol' St. Nicholas.

"Literacy is the best gift" and "Power up Pre-K" were some of the messages written on paper bags filled with books, which were given to pre-schoolers to take home for the holidays.

Nine third- and fourth-grade students from Minot Forest dedicated hours of their time after school to put together "Books for Buddies," a school-wide book drive.

The students are part of the community service group called K-Kids, which meets after-school every Wednesday and hosts at least four drives a year. The K-Kids are currently collecting canned goods to donate to Haiti until January.

As a result of putting posters all over the school, making announcements over the loud speaker, and giving away old books of their own, the K-Kids collected more than 500 books for "Books for Buddies."

Though it took a long time, the K-Kids put the books into brown bags for each pre-schooler to take home and distributed the bags in the cafeteria.

"We hope you will like your new books," said Addison Dion during her speech to the pre-schoolers. "Have a wonderful holiday."

Students from four classes were called up individually. After the drive, K-Kids made sure each student got a bag of books.

The effort was worth it, especially to Payton Calvin who said he "really wanted to see the smiles on [the students] faces after."

Teachers stopped by the cafeteria to commend the students on their hard work and exceptional behavior.

Michael Houdelette, leader of K-Kids, said the effort wouldn't have been possible without the help and support of parents.

K-Kid members include Calvin, Bianca Bourne, Addison Dion, Caleb Ellis, Sophia Ellis, Jalynn Perry, Madison Scott, Addysen Travis and Jeffrey Poirier.