The Mount Joy Area Chamber of Commerce is accepting monetary and gift card donations for homeless students in the Donegal School District and their families. As of Nov. 18, 56 students in the Donegal School District are experiencing homelessness, and 17 of these are unaccompanied youths. This count does not include these students' parents or preschool-age siblings.

Grocery store gift cards should be in denominations of $5, $10, or $25 so they may easily be distributed among students and their families. The Chamber encourages readers to support Chamber member grocery stores, such as the Country Store, Giant, and Hummer's Meats, with gift card purchases.

Monetary donations will be used to buy additional gift cards, which can also be used to purchase Christmas gifts and other essentials. Checks may be made payable to the Mount Joy Chamber.

Every family will receive a Christmas card along with the gift cards.

The deadline to submit donations is Friday, Dec. 13. For more information, contact the Chamber at info@mountjoychamber.com or 717-653-0773.