The SUNY Oneonta campus community came together to brighten the holiday season for nearly 200 local children this year.
Through the college’s annual Giving Tree project, gift tags were created in partnership with staff from several local schools and preschool programs. Each tag contained a child’s age, sex and clothing size. In November, SUNY Oneonta, students, faculty and staff selected tags and purchased winter clothes, toys, nonperishable lunchbox items and toiletries for their child. Many athletic teams, residence halls, student clubs and college offices sponsored a child as a group and worked together to purchase gifts.
On Dec. 11, members of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity helped organize gift pickups and deliveries to the partner schools. A total of 183 children from 95 local families will receive gifts through the program this year.
The Giving Tree has been a SUNY Oneonta holiday tradition for 15 years. Because of the college’s association with the federal College Assistance Migrant Program, which provides scholarships and support services for students from migrant and seasonal farm-working families, the effort started as a Migrant Tutorial Angel Tree, and children from migrant families received the gifts. In 2014, the focus shifted to helping needy families in the communities surrounding the college.
2015 30 Days of Giving
- Day 1: Binghamton University hosts Welcome Week Service Project
- Day 2: Brockport hosts a Saturday of Service
- Day 3: Niagara CCC Penny Wars for St Jude’s Children Research Hospital
- Day 4: Farmingdale Little Flower Event
- Day 5: Onondaga CC works to help K.I.D.S.
- Day 6: Tompkins Cortland Participates in Cancer Resource Charity Walk
- Day 7: SUNY ESF Contributes to the Food Recovery Network
- Day 8: Literacy Matters at FMCC
- Day 9: HVCC Builds Walls for Habitat for Humanity
- Day 10: Oswego’s Positive Community Impact Through SEFA
- Day 11: Dutchess CC Organizes Clothing and Food Drives
- Day 12: Morrisville Holds Back To School Drive
- Day 13: Charity on Ice at SUNY Cortland
- Day 14: Delhi’s Out of the Darkness Event for Suicide Prevention
- Day 15: Dare to Care Day at Buffalo State
- Day 16: FIT Students Engineer Garments for Veterans with Disabilities
- Day 17: SUNY Ulster Sends Text Books to Kenya
- Day 18: Niagara CCC Tackles Breast Cancer Awareness
- Day 19: Herkimer CCC Supports Gram Lorraine Children’s Christmas Program
- Day 20: Jefferson CC Gives Gift of Comfort
- Day 21: SUNY Canton Giving Tree
- Day 22: Alfred State participates in ELK Charity Challenge
- Day 23: Old Westbury goes Shopping for Service
- Day 24: SUNY Oneonta Giving Tree
- Day 25: Purchase College provides free ESOL classes
- Day 26: Tree Trot at Fredonia supports Big Brothers Big Sisters
- Day 27: Geneseo Continues to Provide Hurricane Relief
- Day 28: Rockland CC luncheon raises funds for Alzheimer’s Foundation
- Day 29: Stony Brook Bike-A-Thon For Disabilities
- Day 30: Suffolk County CC volunteers at Special Olympics event
