This holiday season is brighter for many needy St. Louis-area families, thanks to the generosity of the University community.
Through the yearly Give Thanks Give Back campaign, University students, faculty and staff sponsored 121 families and collected several thousand gifts in November.
Give Thanks Give Back supports a group called “100 Neediest Cases,” a joint project of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the United Way. The 100 Neediest Cases actually identifies more than 10,000 cases of financially struggling area residents.
As the holiday season approaches, the newspaper publishes the personal stories of 100 families and individuals. Families are “adopted” by individuals or groups who buy gifts, clothing, household appliances or other requested items for the family.
“Give Thanks Give Back supports St. Louis area residents struggling to overcome poverty during the holiday season,” said Arts & Sciences senior Katie Lombardi, co-chair of this year’s event. “Give Thanks Give Back has always aimed to provide a venue for all members of the Washington University community to make a positive impact on the St. Louis community. This year, there were 90 different student, faculty and staff groups sponsoring families. Give Thanks Give Back’s central event, two gift-wrapping parties occurring in early November, similarly brings together various members of the University community.”
The University’s Office of Student Activities became involved in the program in 1998 when staff members adopted a single family. By 2001, the effort had evolved into a campus-wide program called Give Thanks Give Back. In 2002, the University community adopted 83 families. In each of the past four years, Give Thanks Give Back has adopted more than 100.
For more information, e-mail gtgb@sugroups.wustl.edu.