Lessons from Holiday Gift Drives
Source/Author: Mike Murphy, Headmaster
December 13, 2019
For over 20 years, the Shorecrest community has partnered with the Guardian ad Litem Foundation to make the holidays a little brighter for local children in foster care. The love and energy that fills the Crisp Gym as Chargers make their gift deliveries on the final day of the Holiday Gift Drive is always a highlight of each and every school year. The SCA-sponsored community-wide service event remains a very special school tradition.
The bottom line of the drive is to ensure the 200+ foster children are able to enjoy the normalcy of opening must-have gifts over for the holidays. The gift drive is also a learning opportunity for the school community members who provide the gifts.
As the tradition has evolved over time, our students assist in the selection, shopping, wrapping and delivery of the presents. We've been deliberate about ensuring that even our youngest children physically bring the gifts to the collection area and see the scope of the drive and of the numbers of children who have family situations that are likely very different from their own. Our maintenance team, parent volunteers, faculty and staff all support the drive in important ways on the culminating collection day. Gathering together as a community and active involvement make an impact on the students.
Over the years we have seen students take on much greater responsibility for service and philanthropy. The most memorable experience was in 2009, when a group of Upper School girls organized what is now formally known as Service Week. At the same time, students took over the leadership and organization of Relay For Life. As a school, the phrase "development of a commitment to social responsibility" was written into the Mission of our school. We added a full-time Director of Service Learning to lead and support our service-learning curriculum and initiatives. Of course, parents and guardians continue to step up to lead, serve, and support various service and philanthropic activities sponsored by the school.
Adding the word “learning” to the phrase “service learning” is an important distinction we want all Shorecrest students to understand. Beyond being generous through philanthropy, and doing acts of kindness through community service, service learning connects the service act to the curriculum. Through service learning students explore and seek to understand the causes they are supporting and apply learned skills and knowledge to develop possible solutions for the various needs in our community. Understanding how our involvement can result in progress or a solution to a problem is critical as our students encounter new challenges throughout their lives.
Dozens of Shorecrest family members serve as Guardians in the Guardian ad Litem program. They understand that the needs of the foster children extend far beyond the need for holiday gifts. Many families support other social service agencies in our community. All acts have the potential to lead to a healthier St. Pete and Tampa Bay community.
I trust that our children benefit from their involvement in the Holiday Gift Drive. I thank the SCA volunteers who organized and led the event for our community this year. I am sure many children will experience moments of joy because of the combined efforts and generosity of our families. I hope all families will take time to be sure our children understand the importance of being involved and philanthropic in whichever ways possible. Look at the photos on Ebytes and use them to jumpstart a conversation about how our efforts and generosity can improve the quality of life for others.
Cheers!
Mike
Mike
