The Billings Kiwanis Club is aiming to break its own record at this year's Festival of Trees.
This year, the Billings Kiwanis Club is teaming up with all three Billings high school Key Clubs to gather book donations for its book tree.
Learn more about the collaboration between the Billings Kiwanis Club and the Billings Senior High Key Club:
For the past two years, the Billings Kiwanis Club has taken home the winning title for its 20-story book tree at the annual festival.
According to Hans Abbey, the club's president, in 2023, its winning tree was auctioned off for $4,500, and last year's tree was auctioned for $7,200. This year, the club is aiming to surpass $8,000, with the help of each Billings high school.
Large storage bins have been placed outside of each high school to collect new and gently used children's books. Community members interested in donating can simply open the containers and leave their contributions inside.
"Senior High has always done the Festival of Trees, but they've always done their own. So it's really exciting to have all three high schools participating together for a common cause," said Jennifer Hudson, Billings Senior High Key Club director.
The collaboration marks a shift from competition to cooperation among the schools' Key Club chapters.
"Those kinds of things drive students to do more things. They want to do better," said Ava Goldamner, a Billings Senior High Key Club member. "The friendly competition just gives them more of a reason to try and do their best."
The book tree competition has also sparked collaboration between two Billings Senior High School students, Goldamner and Maria Gallegos, who are running against each other for the Billings Senior High School Key Club president.
"We need to work together if you want to serve the community in the biggest extent that we can... I would like people watching to know that we will always do our best to try to create these opportunities for the community to give back, and that you are never alone," Gallegos told MTN.
All book donations for this year's tree are due Dec. 3, and the Festival of Trees begins on Dec. 4. Proceeds from the tree auction will benefit the Family Nurturing Center, a Montana organization dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect.
Winners of the tree auction can decide what to do with the books, though Abbey noted they typically end up at the Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools.
"If you have kids that (are) in high school now and they've still got all their kid's books laying around, box 'em up and bring 'em over to a storage unit," Abbey said.
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