YAKIMA, Wash. -- Cari Lynn Nichols doesn't have too much on her Christmas list.

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She'd like a new pair of shoes, maybe some clothes.

But the 17-year-old Eisenhower High School senior didn't really give it too much thought this year. She was too caught up in helping gather gifts for another family.

"This is the first year where I really didn't have anything special in mind," she said Wednesday, the day before Christmas Eve. "Normally by now I've shaken all the presents under the tree."

Instead, she's spent the last few weeks collecting donations to help a family of seven. Nichols adopted the family -- two parents and five children -- through the Salvation Army, soliciting donations from Old Navy, West Valley Church of the Nazarene and her Cadet Connections class.

Students in all Ike advisory classes do community service projects during December. But Nichols has gone beyond what most students usually do and is adopting the family as her senior project.

The children range in age from almost 2 to 12 years old. All seven family members share a two-bedroom apartment in Yakima.

Nichols collected about 80 gifts for them. And that doesn't include food donations.

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"It was much more than I expected. I was completely overwhelmed by the turnout," said Nichols, who delivered the truckload of gifts last Saturday.

"The presents just came in, load after load after load, until their whole living room was filled and you could barely see the carpet," Nichols said. "All of the kids were very excited, and they all gave me a hug and we took some pictures."

The gifts included clothing and toys for each child. Plus, Nichols said, "I made sure that each kid got at least one set of PJs. That's something I always get for Christmas, and I think it's fun."

She also got the family "a bunch of board games so they could have something to do together."

Nichols said the project put her in the Christmas spirit: "It really made me feel great."

And it doesn't end here. Nichols plans to keep in touch with the family -- especially the oldest, a 12-year-old girl -- long after the holiday season.

"I'm going to be a mentor to her," said Nichols, who didn't leave empty-handed. In addition to adopting the family, she also adopted a puppy.

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Nichols found him on the family's patio. He's white with black spots.

"There's like a perfect spot over his eye," said Nichols, who's already bought the puppy Christmas outfits at the pet store.

Originally, she was thinking of giving the pup a Christmas- themed name.

"I'm thinking of Mistletoe," she said Wednesday.

But, by Christmas Eve -- after a family discussion -- she had settled on "Bandit."

Adriana Janovich can be reached at 509-577-7653 or .

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