BATON ROUGE — Thanks to donations from the community, 96 middle school students from Glasgow Middle School got the opportunity to share Christmas cheer.

The teens each received a $100 gift card to fill their carts with gifts for family and friends. 

"They got to come here and shop, they had to purchase things for themselves, family members, and a friend at school. They had to come up with a budget, and stay within their budget, and also write thank you notes [as] a part of their lessons," Ashley Rodrigue, a teacher and community ambassador from the school, said.

Rodrigue says she was happy to see the kids being selfless.

"I have seen a lot of working together, so if a kid went over a little on their budget, I have seen students buying birthday gifts and Christmas gifts for each other, so a lot of community building," Rodrigue said. 

One student, Ashly Flores, took the opportunity to make her family's holiday season a little bit brighter for her siblings. 

"It meant a lot to me for people to be kind enough to give us money to go do this," she said.

She hopes that many students like her were able to take one message home after today.

"Always have faith, even when you think it might not happen, always have faith," Rodrigue said. 

The school says they hope they have the opportunity to do this next year.