Holy Cross Community Donates Time, Money, Clothing During Holiday Season

WORCESTER, Mass. – Faculty, staff, and students at Holy Cross are getting into the spirit of Christmas with generous donations of time and other resources to many charities and other causes.

Among these efforts:

• Organized by the Office of Human Resources, the annual United Way fund drive, supported by faculty and staff, exceeded its goal of raising $46,000. The money will be used to support programs in the greater Worcester area that encourage positive youth development, help people most in need and ensure children’s readiness for school.

• A fundraiser sponsored by Women in Wine, titled “Share Your Strength for Abby’s House,” last month raised more than $17,000 for the local shelter for low-income women and children. The event, which included food, wine, music, a live auction and a performance by the Holy Cross Ballroom Dance Team, was held pro bono in the Hogan Ballroom. Earlier this year, Holy Cross raised $1,000 by holding a benefit concert in support of Abby’s House.

• Donations accepted at a concert by folk artist Dar Williams in the Hogan Ballroom last month raised $260 for Abby’s House. The concert was sponsored by Women’s Forum, Allies, Abigail, Pax Christie, Women and Gender Studies and the Campus Activities Board.

• Organized by Human Resources, the Thanksgiving food drive, which benefits members of the Holy Cross community on medical or family leave, faculty and staff were able to send fruit baskets, food baskets, or floral arrangements to 11 families.

• Money raised in the annual AIDS Compassion & Awareness Charity Banquet earlier this month, sponsored by the Bishop Healy Multicultural Society, will go to AIDS Project Worcester and the Pendulum Project, a non-profit humanitarian organization that helps families and communities care for, support, and protect orphans and vulnerable children in parts of the world that are severely impacted by AIDS.

• As this year’s Class Holiday Charity project, the Class of 2010 Class Council participated in Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse, where gift-filled shoeboxes are shipped to needy children across the world. Approximately 200 students, faculty and staff helped and the officers sent 110 shoeboxes filled with stationary, shoes, toys, toiletries, sweets, and games, among other items.

“As the most diverse class ever on Mt. St. James, we wanted to extend the mission of ‘men and women for others’ across the world,” says Gbenimah Slopadoe, vice president, Class of 2010. “What better way to do it than packing a lot of love in a box for a child at Christmas?”

• Toys for Tots donations were collected at the annual Holy Cross Dining Holiday Luncheon on Dec. 7.

• Sponsored by Human Resources, the Candy Cane tree allows participants in early December to select candy canes from a Christmas tree and buy a gift for a patient at St. Mary’s Health Care Center, or for a needy child in the Main South neighborhood of Worcester, through the Worcester Coalition.

• The Chaplains’ Office and Alpha Sigma Nu (the Jesuit Honor Society) collaborated in collecting toys at worship services on campus in Advent. The toys will be donated to churches in Worcester for distribution to children at Christmas.

• Since 1987, the Physical Plant/Building Services department donates used furniture from office and residence hall upgrades, and conducts a winter clothing drive among staff, faculty and students to benefit the following Worcester organizations: Henry Lee Willis Community Center, PIP Shelter in Worcester; Central Mass. Housing Alliance; Abby’s House; and Central Mass Shelter for Homeless Veterans, among others. “It’s grown to be unbelievably huge,” says Jack McCann, assistant director of Physical Plant/Building Services, who estimates that more than 100 coats alone were donated this year. “It’s amazing how much is dropped off.”

• The Loyola House Council and Resident Assistant Staff teamed up for their own clothing drive benefiting charity. The clothing will be delivered to various organizations, including Catholic Charities and PIP shelter.

• The Information Technology Services department recently offered volunteer staff assistance to the computer lab at the Nativity School, founded and sponsored by Holy Cross and the New England Province of the Society of Jesus. ITS staff assisted in cleaning up viruses and troubleshooting other technical problems.

• Year-round, Dining Services donates surplus food to the Central Mass Shelter for Homeless Veterans, in Worcester.

• Money raised in a benefit concert held earlier this semester in the memory of Sheila Lynch ’05 was donated to Student Programs for Urban Development and the Appalachia Service Project, organizations that held special meaning for Lynch. The event was sponsored by Alumni Relations staff, the Chaplains’ Office and Campus Activities Board.