With less than two weeks to go until Christmas, Marist has begun decorating all over campus. Wreaths hang from doors and over the underpass arch, while the beautifully lit up Christmas tree outside of the library is the trending photo on Instagram. These flashy decorations not only remind us that there is a light at the end of the tunnel following finals, but instill a Christmas spirit within all of us that is infectious all over campus. Part of this Christmas spirit comes from Campus Ministry’s Giving Tree Program.
The Giving Tree Program, organized by the upperclassmen members of the Campus Ministry club, began back in the beginning of November. The program starts with trees that are set up sporadically around campus and decorated with paper ornaments. Written on these paper ornaments are gift requests from local families in need. Students can take an ornament, buy that specific gift and bring it to the Chapel. The gifts range from household items, bicycles, clothing, electronics and more. This year the program adopted thirty families in need from seven different agencies.
The project is certainly a group effort as it requires a lot of people to perform many different tasks. Different committees for making the ornaments, creating posters used for advertising, setting up the trees and gift sorting were all filled instantly. The Giving Tree project culminated this past Sunday at the Giving Tree Mass in the Chapel, which was followed by the gift sorting portion of the project.
“The most beautiful thing is to see the Marist Community come together during the Holiday season. Seeing how quickly the faculty, staff and students pick ornaments from the Giving Tree warms my heart. We are all so blessed to be going to school here and during this holiday season everyone is so generous to the thirty local families to make their Christmases and lives brighter,” says Justine Carra, junior student and member of the Campus Ministry advisory board.