BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Benton Harbor High School teachers were surprised with gift bags on Wednesday.

It was made possible by the Southwestern Michigan Minister Alliance.

Area religious leaders chipped in their own money to treat each teacher at Benton Harbor High with a goodie bag.

“Instead of awarding the children, which we did last year, we decided to award the teachers and try to give them that personal touch,” said Pastor Steven McCoy, the vice president of the alliance.

“They’re giving us something that we really need, that we don’t have to go out and buy,” said Natalie Logan, a 9^th grade English teacher. “Normally I spend like $300 or $400 just getting my room ready, and I see some of the stuff that’s in the bag that I can really use, so I really appreciate it.”

The bags included everything from computer paper to tissues to pencils and more.

ABC57’s Taylor Popielarz also filed a report on Wednesday about how the Benton Harbor Area School District is utilizing a $2 million grant from the state to create positive programming in the schools.

You can watch that report by clicking here.