The Grant Towers residence halls are making the holidays a little nicer for the needy children of DeKalb.

The annual Christmas party for the children of DeKalb will take place tonight in the lobbies of Grant Towers North and South, said Carolyn Maslanka, a senior staff member.

Every year, the residence halls get a list of less fortunate children from the Salvation Army who will not be receiving many presents for the holiday season. They collect money from the residents to purchase the presents which were on the wish list the kids filled out.

“The kids really enjoy the party,” Maslanka said.

Each floor in the residence hall sponsors a child for the evening. The children will arrive after they get out of school and will meet their floor sponsor, get a name tag and find out what the plans for the evening are, Maslanka said.

The Committee Activities and Social Club of GTN has arranged for the children to have dinner in the cafeteria, meet Santa and get presents. They also will be coloring holiday pictures and singing carols.

This year the club collected over $600 and was given funding from the hall council to purchase gifts and wrapping paper, Maslanka said.

“We got wishes for toys, Barbie dolls, winter clothes, games and we had to do a lot of Barney shopping,” she said.

The children are aged 3 to 11 and there will be between 20 and 22 kids present.

The GTN residents have organized the party for the children for over four years and it has been very successful, Maslanka said.

They will eat dinner at 4:30 p.m. and be finished by 5:30. Afterward, they will meet Santa Claus, have their pictures taken with him and tell him what they want.

Then, Santa will leave the party and the kids will wait for him to return and receive their presents.

“We do not affiliate with any religion for the party,” Maslanka said. “We just give out gifts to the kids.”