ZELIENOPLE — Though Christmas decorations have long been stashed away, a tree stands in the Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School lobby, waiting for gifts to fill the space beneath its branches.

The Giving Tree has become a Valentine's Day fixture at the school, a prominent symbol of the annual Random Acts of Kindness week.

"It's the sixth annual. Can you believe it?" said DeeAnn Graham, CVE principal.

Random Acts of Kindness week is designed to teach students charity and citizenship, community service and, of course, kindness toward others.

Each day features a different activity, but the Giving Tree is open to donations all week.

Students are asked to donate toiletries, cards and games, pencils and pens, slippers, phone cards, candy, snacks and other items to Project Hope, an organization that helps with the unexpected or long-term hospitalization of children.

Project Hope was founded by Kim Sebring in memory of her son, Tyler, a former CVE student who succumbed to a heart condition in 2003.

Tyler was a patient at Children's Hospital for the final four months of his life, when he underwent his second heart transplant.

During the ordeal, Kim Sebring received a basket of toiletries and other items from her Mothers of Preschoolers group.

That gesture inspired her to do the same for other parents facing the same situation.

"What we're finding with the students is they really, truly want to have these kind acts, and they love to know they're helping with a community project," Graham said.

Through the week, students will also:

• Make Valentine's Day cards for police, fire departments, retirement home residents and staff, and postal employees;

• Greet bus drivers with treats and thank-you cards;

• Hand out stickers to students doing kind acts;

• Donate dog and cat treats, toys and gently used towels for pets at the Butler County Humane Society; and

• Hold a penny drive to raise money for The Caring Place, an organization dedicated to families affected by autism.

"It's something the children really enjoy, so it's nice to be able to revisit that," Graham said of the annual event.

"When we give gifts to bus drivers or take cards over to the public works department, they (students) are the happiest little things."