Joy of Giving 2022

Making Spirits Bright for More Than 25 Years

(Formerly University's Needy Children Program)

The University Farm pavilion can be downright freezing on any given blustery winter day.  But every December for more than 30 years, the pavilion gets filled with light, smiles, and warmth.  The campus community, with assistance from Butte County Children's Services Division and other community entities come together each year to ensure that dozens of local children receive gifts to brighten and enhance their holiday season experience.

The tradition continued in December of 2022 as Staff Council's Service Projects Committee organized the Joy of Giving (formerly UNCP) program for the 32^nd time!  Committee Co-chairs Andrea Walters and Jana McQueen worked to coordinate this program which served 46 local families and 76 children this year.  The program organizes departments, offices, other campus groups, and individuals to purchase gifts for these families.  The families are nominated by area social workers through Butte County Children's Services.  Families remain anonymous, but social workers collect information about what the family might need along with children's ages, sizes, favorite colors, and interests so that the gifts can be personalized.  

Gifts were gathered in the Farm Pavilion for distribution, where a reception was also held.  Attendees were impressed, if not surprised, to witness the generosity of their colleagues.  In addition to toys, clothes, and bicycles, gifts donated in 2022 included furniture, a double-stroller, and a laptop for a young mother to help her with school.  

Staff Council also raised funds through the year to purchase grocery gift cards to be distributed to each of the families along with their gifts. The total money raised for gift cards over the last 25 years reaches upwards of a staggering $100,000!  With over 1,900 families in Butte County adopted by program participants over that quarter century, over 4,800 children have benefited from the spirit of giving.

Please enjoy this look behind the scenes of the 2020 Joy of Giving Program.

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