Thursday, December 13, 2018

A GIFT FOR EVERY TREE


By GIANNA DUGAN

Santa Claus has found himself with a heavy load this year, making sure everyone wakes up Christmas morning with a smile on their face. As the sounds of reindeer bells grow nearer and Old Saint Nick rushes to meet his deadline, the students and teachers at Washingtonville High School are joining efforts to make sure Santa gets to every family this Christmas. 

Adopt-A-Family Gift//GIANNA DUGAN FOR THE WIZARD WEEKLY
On Thursday, December 6th, a handful of students from Washingtonville High School gathered at the entrance of Target waiting to be instructed by Ms. Angelillo and Ms. Polo about how to light up someone’s holiday season. After separating the students into groups, the two Student Coalition advisors then randomly assigned the five families that were adopted by the school club to each group. To aid in the search for the perfect Christmas gifts, a wishlist from each family member was provided, including their wants, needs, age, gender, and size in clothing. 

The team of Santa’s helpers roamed around Target, striving to meet each family member’s needs and wants, while still remaining within each recipient’s $130 limit. Once everyone successfully filled up their carts, they returned to the school to wrap the gifts and eat pizza. The Student Coalition Club provided a generous $1500 budget for gifts this year. This money came from their school store profit, concession stand earnings, and all other fundraising money that was earned throughout the year. The power of fundraising is truly remarkable at times. Ms. Angelillo, being a part of the program for six years now,  proudly stated, “One year, [Student Coalition] was able to buy a child a bicycle!” 

JEWEL CALABRO FOR THE WIZARD WEEKLY
Each year, Student Coalition works with the Orange County Youth Bureau’s “Adopt a Family for the Holidays” program which is a county-wide effort to bring happiness during the holidays to families that cannot afford gifts. School social workers and social service agencies find and contact families that could use the program’s help, assigning families randomly and confidentially to anyone willing to help. Mr. Saladino and Ms. O’Sullivan, the high school’s social workers, have played a big role in getting the word out about this program. Countless clubs and individuals have been able to adopt families over the years because of Mr. Saladino and Ms. O’Sullivan’s hard work running the program to be successful and coordinating each aspect of the process. 

After all the hard work and selfless efforts from the community, in the end, Ms. O’Sullivan feels the best part “... is [the] real sense of relief when they find out that their kids will be able to have a nice Christmas… [and the] feeling when the gifts have all been delivered.  There is a huge sense of accomplishment.” 

No one wants to wake up on Christmas morning to nothing but dust bunnies under their Christmas tree, and no one should have to! Santa could always use the help and what’s not to love about making others happy during the holidays?

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