SCA Holiday Gift Drive
Source/Author: Stacy Conroy, Holiday Gift Drive Chair
November 18, 2024
The holiday season is upon us, which means the annual Shorecrest Holiday Gift Drive benefiting Hero to a Child is just around the corner! For more than 30 years the Holiday Gift Drive has been the School's signature service event with participation from students and families at every grade level and alumni families. Through the Gift Holiday Drive, the Shorecrest community provides holiday gifts to over 240 underserved children through Hero to a Child, which provides advocacy and support for abused, abandoned or neglected children in the Guardian ad Litem Program of Pinellas and Pasco Counties. Last year's Gift Drive brought holiday joy to 270 children.
The Gift Drive begins on December 2, when children can begin bringing unwrapped gifts into their classroom, and culminates on December 13, when our students will bring the hundreds of presents they have collected to the Athletic Center, where our parent and community volunteers will organize the gifts that will make so many children’s holidays just a little brighter. On Saturday, December 14, the Guardian ad Litem volunteer child advocates will come to campus for a drive-through pick up of the gifts.
What You Can Do:
- Purchase gifts – Watch for emails from your class representative or a grade level representative. The email will provide a link to sign up for gifts to purchase, as well as details on how to label and send in your gifts. The links for each grade are also listed at the bottom of this page. Send in your gifts with your child between December 2 and December 13. All gifts should be unwrapped with a label attached with the child’s name and Child ID# (and a description of the contents if not obvious from the packaging). If you are sending in gift cards or expensive items like airpods, please give them to the Assistant to the Division Head in your child’s division.
- Donate cash – We realize how busy many of you are and it is hard to find time to shop. Cash donations are essential to the success of the Gift Drive – we use this money to make sure that all gifts are purchased so that no child is left without the gifts that they want and need. You can donate to the gift drive via this link: https://scagiftdrive.square.site/
- Volunteer – We will have several shifts for volunteers throughout both days of the Gift Drive, for sorting and organizing (Friday, December 13) and running the drive through pick up (Saturday, December 14).
Thank you in advance for helping make this year’s holidays extra special for over 240 children that the Holiday Gift Drive will serve. We know this event will once again showcase the giving spirit of the Shorecrest community.
If you have questions or want to get more involved, please email [email protected] or the Gift Drive Chair Stacy Conroy ([email protected]).
Alumni and alumni families are again invited to participate in the Gift Drive that many devoted time and effort to when they were students and parents at Shorecrest. A link to sign up to participate as alumni can be found here. Instructions on where to send/drop gifts are on the sign up.
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**NEW INFO** Many of the sign up lists are full, so this is a list of extra items that Hero to a Child can always use - whether in their holiday workshop where Guardian ad Litems can “shop” for children who have not made specific requests to holiday gift drives, or throughout the year as items are needed/requested -- especially for children new to foster care. Anyone can contribute items on this list and send them in with their child. Please label any of these extra items not purchased for a specific child with “EXTRA ITEM” so we know they are unassigned. |
Links to Wish List Sign Ups:
**A Note on Changes to Gift Drive post-Hurricanes Helene and Milton: This year, we are sensitive to the increased need within our school community and also eager to continue this important service tradition of giving to the most at-risk and in-need children in our area. After the far-reaching impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, we recognize that there are families within our own Shorecrest community whose lives have been altered and who may be struggling, and many in our community have been generously donating resources to help. Therefore, Shorecrest and Hero to a Child worked together to scale back the requests for this year's Holiday Gift Drive. Advocates requesting gifts on behalf of each child will adhere to the standard dollar amount limits set by the organization for all other gift drives outside of Shorecrest. Rest assured we will still be creating holiday magic for over 240 children! We encourage you to participate in the Gift Drive in the way that is most meaningful and appropriate for your family at this time.**
