Students and employees at the College of Charleston donated thousands of dollars to more than a dozen Charleston-area non-profit organizations during the 2013 holiday season.
Below are the departments and groups responsible for 10 ways the College gave back to the community this season.
1. The Office of Public Safety organized an Angel Tree to benefit seven families at My Sister’s House. The College of Charleston community donated nearly 100 gifts so each child and mother could enjoy three presents. Ellen Cole Kilgore says, “We have worked with My Sister’s House for several years now and our donations help make transition time a little brighter especially during the holiday season.”
McConnell Trick or Treat Festival to support HALOS.
2. The McConnell Living/Learning Communities supported HALOS by collecting $1,100 worth of gifts and hosting a celebration for the children and families. Activities included photos with Santa, an arts and crafts table, caroling, treats and drinks. More than 240 first year College of Charleston students and 13 resident assistants (RAs) coordinated the effort.
3. The Division of Information Technology held a toy drive to support the Marines Toys for Tots program. They’ve done this for the past three years and Victor Swindell says, “I’ve had the chance to see some of the families in the program, on Christmas morning where there are no lights, no Christmas tree and no presents. They get a knock on the door, and strangers armed with presents light up the faces of children who were going to be forgotten.”
4. The College of Charleston community pledged $33,000 to Trident United Way as part of the 2013 Fundraising Campaign.
5. The College’s Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) collected mittens, hats, and other outer wear for HALOS. Prior to Thanksgiving, the 4/5K children under the supervision of CofC student interns, Lauren Adderly and Jessica Ross, collected canned goods for the Lowcountry Food Bank. ECDC Director Candace JaruI think overall, we consider ourselves a very fortunate community and any time we can help our children understand the importance of caring for others, we try to do so.
6. It’s a tradition for the School of Sciences and Mathematics to collect items for the Lowcountry Food Bank at their annual holiday luncheon. This year they sent dozens of items to families in need.
7. The theatre department, led by Professor Joy Vandervort-Cobb and Marie Oleksiak, rallied students and the community to donate “bags of joy” filled with personal hygiene items to children in need (through Trident United Way). “We gave what we could and I had an extraordinary time watching the donations come in, the bags build up, and the commitment of my colleagues to make some child’s winter break a bit easier,” Vandervort-Cobb says. “This particular service project, focused on children and blogged so beautifully by our Americorp Vista Carson Carroll just touched something inside.” Read Carson’s blog post.
8. Sophomore Emily Hoisington rallied students and the community to collect more than 1,000 toys to be distributed through Charleston Hope to children in three Charleston County schools. Read more about Hoisington.
9. College of Charleston Dining Services enabled students to donate their dining dollars to purchase food for East Cooper Community Outreach as part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
10. Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, donated $100 to Fields to Families to help fight hunger.
