MAKING CHRISTMAS MERRY AND BRIGHT

December 14, 2015

It’s the Most Generous Time of the Year at SJC Long Island ...

With the holiday season in full swing, the annual Christmas Gift Giving Drive at SJC Long Island began right after Thanksgiving when the Office of Campus Ministry put up Christmas trees in O’Connor Hall that display the wish lists of 30 families in need. The families come from the local community and the organizations that students work with throughout the year, such as Wyandanch Homes and Mommas House. This year, the trees also include wish lists from veterans in the community who were recently homeless but have now been provided with safe residencies in local apartments.

SJC students, staff and faculty are invited to choose a name from the tree, shop for the items they requested, wrap the gifts, label them and return them to the tree before Monday, December 21. When the semester ends, Pat Tracy, director of campus ministry at SJC Long Island, creates his own Santa’s workshop where students help sort out gifts to ensure everyone will receive a present. The gifts are then delivered to the families with Santa Claus’ (also known as Pat Tracy) help.

Are you interested in making a child’s Christmas extra special this year? For more information, contact Pat Tracy at 631.687.1467.

SJC Long Island’s recent food donation campaign was a huge success. Special kudos go out to the Athletics Department: food items collected by team members — especially the baseball squad — doubled the amount of the whole campus.

The baseball team also scored big with their Christmas toy drive, collecting more than 80 toys, plus an additional 25 that were sent to the Wounded Warriors project.

This holiday season, SJC Long Island volunteer efforts also included rehabbing homes in Queens with Habitat for Humanity, selling 3D printed holiday ornaments to benefit the Suffolk County Chapter of the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program, collecting small gift items for veterans and raising money for Sobornost for the World Foundation with the sale of handcrafted items in the Fair Trade Shop set up in the cafeteria.

All this makes SJC proud — both the College and Santa J. Claus (Yes, we’re convinced Santa’s middle name is Joseph.).