MOOSEHEART - There was a tree festooned with lights and ornaments, topped with a shiny silver star. Beneath that tree there were piles of presents. And heading to those presents were some very eager children.

This happy scene could have come from any of so many places on Christmas morning. But in this case, the setting was the Minnesota Home at Mooseheart Child City & School.  A campus where children experience so many other interesting things over the course of the year, Mooseheart is also a place where children can open presents--sometimes for the first time.

And did they ever enjoy tearing the wrapping paper at Minnesota Home, a for the campus' middle school and high school girls.

"I'm just happy for what I got," 10-year-old Brianna Casey said. Brianna arrived at Mooseheart in April and spent her first Christmas at Mooseheart.

"I got lots of stuff that I wanted," Casey said. "It made me happy to see the presents by the tree - I saw lots of presents for everybody and me."

In all, there were roughly 40 children at Mooseheart on Christmas morning, meaning some consolidation of homes took place. Casey spent Christmas away from Virginia Home with two girls from Minnesota Home, including her 13-year-old sister Candace and fellow 13-year-old Colleen Rice.

The numbers fluctuated through the day. Two girls who were to have been at Minnesota Home to open presents ended up staying with their guardians. Other children arrived as the day progressed.

"Our emphasis over the past decade has been to get the kids home for the holidays to see their guardians," Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart said. "The two times our kids get to see their guardians are at Christmas time and on summer vacation. It is an important time to go home to connect with their families."

However, Hart stressed that children certainly are never forced off-campus, and that spending holidays on-campus is always an option for every one of the 220 children at Mooseheart.

"Unfortunately, every year, there are kids who don't have the opportunity to travel back - for a variety of reasons," Hart said. "It's great that the staff at Mooseheart are here 365 days a year."

As they worked their way through their gifts, the girls at Minnesota Home took a moment to reflect on what it had been like watching the presents arrive and fill the space under the tree.

"It's been pretty cool to watch everything get here," Candace Casey said. "I'm thankful for what we got. I could have waited longer, but it was good to be able to open them."

As she looked at the pile of presents that had come from packages with her name on them, Candace Casey said, "I couldn't have asked for anything else."

Christmas is the culmination of a month-long series of celebrations on- and off-campus. Candace Casey said she enjoyed the experience of her first Christmas at Mooseheart.

"We had a lot of parties where we went to Moose Lodges," she said. "It was fun. It's been really nice. People here have been doing things to make it really nice."

Rice was all smiles as she opened her packages. There were some highlights as well, especially a series of gifts themed around the Twilight series of books and movies.

"The Moose are really nice to give us presents for Christmas," Rice said. "They care for us. It's fun to be at Mooseheart for Christmas. You get to see friends who are still here and you get to hang out with your siblings."

After the presents were opened and put away, the children enjoyed a brunch with their on-campus siblings. For Rice, this meant having lunch with her brother Zach. The Casey sisters have a further sister and a brother on campus.

The day was also a family Christmas for the Family Teachers in Minnesota Home. Jeremy and Reanna Thompson have been Family Teachers for four months and celebrated the holiday with their own children - 3-year-old Kiara and 1-year-old Aliyah as well as the Caseys and Rice.

"I think there's a sense of sadness that the kids here can't be with their natural families," Jeremy Thompson said. "But I also think it's exciting. The kids are so blessed with the gifts they received from their Lodges."

Thompson said that one of the things he witnessed was the spirit with which the girls at Minnesota Home shopped for their siblings. "They enjoyed shopping for their siblings on campus or for other children in the home," he said. "That was really neat to see how much they enjoy giving gifts. And they're really excited to give gifts to their parents and guardians."

As the gifts were opened, the Thompsons' children mingled with the Mooseheart children, helping and watching. The experience put a smile on the Family Teachers' faces.

"You can see how the kids at Mooseheart, as well as our kids, there's a sense of family and togetherness," Thompson said. "The Mooseheart children were so good to our children. For my wife and I, this is why we came here."

Christmas arrived with a wave of warm air and a midweek snowfall evaporated beneath that heat and subsequent rain. But by the end of the holiday weekend, there was again a coating of snow, meaning winter activities could take place.

"Our Recreation Department has been taking kids to Camp Ross," Hart said of the 150-acre wooded retreat owned by the Moose near Mt. Morris, 60 miles west of Mooseheart. "It's great to have snow on the ground. The kids can go sledding and build snow forts and we have snowmobiles out there the kids can ride. The Moose Legion provides Camp Ross year-round and it's used mostly in the summer. But it's great in the wintertime as well."

Christmas comes during Mooseheart's two-week semester break. In less than a week, the campus will be full again, school will be back in session and the holidays will be just a memory. But Hart said the memories are good ones, and it's the men and women of the Moose fraternity who make it all possible.

"Soon, 2010 will be here and we look forward to another year of blessings from the fraternity on our kids," Hart said. "We appreciate that generosity all year round. But the Moose really shine at Christmas time to make it a special time for our kids. When you say Christmas is about giving - and when you look up 'giving' in Webster's Dictionary - you should find a picture of a Moose member or co-worker there."

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,800 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S. , Canada , Great Britain and Bermuda . Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 230 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville , FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.

Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.mooseintl.org, www.mooseheart.org, www.moosehaven.org and www.moosecharities.org, or call 630-966-2229.