Children get "warm wishes"

While students were spending long hours in the library cramming for final exams and wrapping up fall semester, many still found time to brighten up an otherwise bleak holiday season for kids involved in the Center for Community Action and Service Learning mentoring programs.

The "Giving Tree", an annual event sponsored by the Campus Kids program through CCASL, provides Christmas presents for children in the program. This past holiday season marked the 15th year of the Giving Tree at Gonzaga. According to Dani Long, the Campus Kids and Shaw Connection, another CCASL mentoring program, coordinator, the Giving Tree has been around as long as Campus Kids has.

Campus Kids is a program that matches Gonzaga mentors with mentees in grades four through six. Mentors aid in academic help as well as relationship building.

This past Christmas, the Giving Tree provided presents to the 125 kids in the program as well as up to four of each of their brothers and sisters. Each child was able to ask for their "warmest wishes," a warm item of clothing, and a toy of their choice.

"This year we had an approximate total of 350 children who made their ‘warmest wishes,' and every single one of those children plus more received their gifts," Long said.

At the Winter Wonderland party, organized by the Campus Kids and Shaw Connection leaders and mentors, CCASL gave away about 700 gifts that the Gonzaga community had donated. Campus Kids and Shaw Connection mentors wrapped the presents before bringing them to the holiday party.

The Winter Wonderland party also included carnival games, face painting, gingerbread house making, free pizza for all mentees and their families and a live performance by Gonzaga's acapella group, the Big Bing Theory, Long said. Santa was also able to make an appearance to deliver gifts to the kids.

Long said that the Giving Tree was able to brighten Christmas for children in Logan neighborhood schools.

According to Long, the Winter Wonderland party has been a Campus Kids and Shaw Connection tradition for eight years now. 

"I know personally that my mentee was ecstatic with the Campus Kids' involvement throughout the holidays," said Abby Nelson, junior Campus Kids mentor.

The Winter Wonderland event also gave mentors the opportunity to bond with the Logan neighborhood community.

 "Not only does our Christmas party provide the mentees with an opportunity to introduce the rest of their families to their friends and mentor, but more importantly it provides a time for the community to come together."

Long said part of what made this year's Giving Tree so successful was the help of not only students, but Gonzaga staff, faculty and community.

"This year I really wanted to make sure that we branched out to other campus populations, not just students," Long said.

"The Giving Tree allows these kids to have a Christmas that most of us were lucky enough to grow up with," Nelson said. "It provides the Gonzaga campus with another opportunity to help out the community, and I know these kids and families are grateful for it."