BATON ROUGE - The community stepped up in a big way for hundreds of children this Christmas.

Every child in the East Baton Rouge school system's Elf Tree program was granted their Christmas wish.

The number of students on this year's list nearly tripled from years past. About 300 students who signed up were eligible for gifts.

"Coming off of Covid, and we've had a lot of natural disasters so that has increased the need," said Letrece Griffin, communications director for East Baton Rouge schools.

But the community has stepped up in a big way to fulfill that need. Every single child on the list, got their Christmas wish.

"Kids ask for everything from bikes to Barbie dolls to iPads, and their wishes have been granted. It's been amazing. They've made financial contributions, and they've also given directly things they've asked for off of their wish list."

Local organizations have also answered the call for the season of giving.

"We've had sizeable contributions from the Greater Baton Rouge Area Foundation. This year's changemakers class made a sizeable contribution as well. We've raised, financially, upwards of $19,000."