St. Ann School has been a strong supporter of Red Bags KC for more than 40 years

Emily Greene and her daughter Mary Grace cut wrapping paper for a gift for Red Bags KC. St. Ann School and friends of the parish collected gifts for 201 children this year, and the entire program collected gifts for 2,282 children and 72 families. LEAVEN PHOTO BY KATHRYN WHITE

PRAIRIE VILLAGE — For the 41st year, Red Bags KC is making Christmas bright for families in need across the Kansas City metro area.

Jack Bowen (left), Graham Woosley and Graham’s mom Kaitlin team up to wrap gifts in Shirley Collier’s kindergarten class. LEAVEN PHOTO BY KATHRYN WHITE

The Red Bag program, founded by the late Daniel Jacobs, a longtime parishioner at St. Ann Parish in Prairie Village, invites businesses, churches, families, schools and other groups to collect and wrap Christmas gifts for families and foster children in need.

Kindergarten student Blair Bodenhamer colors in a piece of paper to include with the school’s Red Bag donations. LEAVEN PHOTO BY KATHRYN WHITE

St. Ann School has been a strong supporter of the program from the start.

Robby Crow and his mom Erica work together to wrap a gift for Red Bags KC at St. Ann School in Prairie Village on Dec. 4. LEAVEN PHOTO BY KATHRYN WHITE

This year, the school and friends of the parish collected gifts for 201 children. They were wrapped and placed in red bags, then loaded into a truck by the eighth grade class on Dec. 5.

Eighth grader Adelynn Schwartz carries a bag filled with donated gifts to be loaded into the back of a truck. In the background are eighth graders Palmer Jackson (left) and Noah Ghavami waiting their turn. It’s a tradition for St. Ann’s eighth grade class to load the truck each year. LEAVEN PHOTO BY MOIRA CULLINGS

The bags were delivered to the Ball Conference Center in Olathe the following day and will be distributed to families and children ahead of Christmas.