Making the Season Special: Students, Staff Support Winter Gift Drive for Children

For the past 25 years, the Community Service Office (CSO) has offered members of the campus community a unique gift-giving opportunity for the holidays. 

Working with the Hilltown Churches Food Pantry in Ashfield, Mass., the CSO helps recruit students, faculty and staff each year to donate winter gifts for area children.

Supporters of the pantry’s Winter Gifts Program come from all parts of the Smith community. This year, 27 houses and individual student groups participated, with Morris House topping the list by sponsoring five children, the CSO reports.

In addition, 22 Smith employees or employee groups were part of the gift drive—among them, members of the Information Technology Services Department (ITS), who funded gifts for seven children from two area families.

Overall, this year’s Winter Gifts Program drew 71 Smith sponsors who donated 248 gifts. Tziona Breitbart ’16 and Veronica Oberholzer ’17, both members of the CSO’s board, organized the program on campus, coordinating all of the outreach, gift matching and delivery activities.

Oberholzer said organizing Winter Gifts “gave me valuable experience in coordinating a project on a large scale.”

Tiertza-Leah Schwartz, community services director for Smith’s Center for Community Collaboration, noted that the food pantry is one of many local agencies the center partners with throughout the year to provide volunteer and service opportunities for members of the college community. The pantry provides food for more than 600 people every two weeks in rural Franklin County.

A goal of hosting the Winter Gifts Program “is to teach students and other members of the Smith community about hunger in surrounding rural towns,” Schwartz said. “More than 90 percent of the families served by the pantry are employed but struggling to make ends meet, and the holidays can be a challenging time for them.”

Among the most enthusiastic supporters of the annual gifts program at Smith are members of the Information Technology Services (ITS) department. Since they began donating as a group in 2007, ITS staff members have raised more than $3,000 to support gifts for 44 kids from 17 local families.

This year, department staff raised $602 for the program—their largest contribution to date.

Computer Resource Manager Barbara Pliska takes the lead in her department’s Winter Gifts drive—though she emphasizes it is a collective effort.

In addition to the group donation, three department colleagues—Sandy Bycenski, Karen LeHouiller and Liane Hartman—make an additional contribution as a trio.

“We have very generous people here at ITS,” Pliska said.

Even before participating in the Hilltown Winter Gifts Program, Pliska said ITS employees regularly chipped in to donate gift cards to food banks in Northampton during the holidays. Since learning about the food pantry’s gift drive, department members have sponsored an average of seven children each year.

The food pantry interviews families for suggestions for gift clothing items and toys for their children, then provides that information to sponsors—along with details about the children’s ages, sizes and favorite colors.

Pliska—who does the shopping for her department’s donated gifts—said her colleagues like to sponsor families with multiple children. “If I purchase gifts for all the kids and still have money left over, I buy a gift card for the family,” she added.

Pliska said she is always humbled by how basic the children’s gift requests are—even the toy requests.

“They really just want the basics—like warm winter boots and waterproof gloves,” Pliska said. “One little girl asked for a purple fleece blanket. A lot of the gifts this year were hats and gloves.”

When buying gift cards, Pliska tries to gauge whether or not the family will be able to make use of items many people take for granted. “I wonder whether I should get them Amazon gift cards or whether they have a computer or Internet connection in their homes,” she explained.

Pliska said she especially enjoys gift requests “for something creative, like an art kit, drawing supplies, paper, pencils, a jewelry-making kit.” Although it might sound odd coming from someone who works in information technology, she added, “it’s nice to see kids not asking for technology gifts.”

Kirsten Ritter, database administrator in ITS, said she appreciates the groundwork that Pliska does each year to make the department’s gifts to children possible.

“By donating, I get to feel part of making the season special for a number of children who might otherwise have very little,” Ritter said.

Telephone and One Card assistant Mary Clayton said being part of the Winter Gifts Program “reflects the generosity of our group and the willingness of our team to support those who are not as fortunate as we are.”

Bonnie Graves, coordinator of the food pantry’s gifts program, said she is “humbled” by the efforts of the college community and the “joy that you make possible” at the holidays.

The CSO offers other opportunities throughout the year for those who wish to volunteer with community agencies. To find out more, contact Schwartz via email, cso@smith.edu, or visit the CSO website.

Staff of Information Technology Services were among many Smith community members who donated to this year's Hilltown Winter Gifts program for children.