The Washington Township community is invited to participate in the annual Power of Giving to provide gifts for local families and children in need
What started as a small charitable event, collecting nearly 50 gifts for local families and children in need during the holiday season more than 20 years ago, has grown to one of Washington Township’s largest service events known as the Power of Giving project. This year, through donations collected by the community and members of the school district, a record 260 children in need will receive gifts this Christmas.
Organized by the three middle school Future Acts Clubs, as well as the Changing Our World Project, each December, local families and children in need are identified for the charitable event. Each child is given an alias, which is then placed on various giving trees, located in all 11 of the district’s schools, as well as in the Municipal Building. Each tag will include the child’s alias name, age, gender and a wish list with sizes. District teachers and residents are invited to select a student to shop for and drop off their unwrapped gifts at any of the township schools.
“Many people don’t realize how many families are in need in our community, and it helps to make the holiday season special and bright for families who can’t afford to give their child, in some cases, anything or limited gifts,” Orchard Valley Middle School science teacher Madeline LaVoe said. “It gives them a chance to have the magic of Christmas and the holiday season, which I think everybody deserves.”
On Dec. 18, volunteer middle school students will gather to wrap the presents, which are then matched with the actual families and distributed before Christmas.
“Some of the kids volunteering are families who are receiving gifts,” said Eileen Lucarini, COW Project representative and founder of the Power of Giving event. “It’s a great experience because they get to work together, they like the wrapping, and they get to see all of the toys and generosity from the community. I try to let the kids know this could be the only gift somebody gets.”
According to Chestnut Ridge Middle School special education teacher Kim Hinrichs, students within the school district have shown increased interest in getting involved with the project each year, validating the importance of productive and positive community service within the education system.
“We’re getting the message across about giving back to the community and getting involved with things that are productive,” Hinrichs said. “I would encourage anybody who wants to be a part of something positive to stop by any of the schools in the district or the mayor’s office, take a name and give a little something back to someone this year.”
LaVoe said the district values hands-on service opportunities for students, and the Wrap Fest allows the children to see the impact the project has on the local community.
“It creates another level of service,” LaVoe said. “We are really passionate about giving our students meaningful service opportunities; they can see how many families are impacted just in our community by volunteering to wrap gifts to make the holiday season special.”
LaVoe said while each child has his or her own wish list specific to his or her needs, oftentimes the older middle school or high school children, who are requesting clothes or gift cards, will be left behind while the younger children, who are asking for toys, are selected frequently. LaVoe said she encourages the community to consider adopting every child in the Power of Giving event, as they are gracious for all of the gifts that are delivered.
“We really appreciate the involvement of the Washington Township community and how generous they are, continuously giving back to our events,” LaVoe said. “If they are willing and able, we’d hope they’d continue that spirit of giving by choosing a student.”
Lucarini said since the event’s origination more than 20 years ago, the township has continuously donated its time and resources each year in collecting the gifts that are dropped off to the school, and delivering them to the Wrap Fest event. Because of this community-wide effort, the event has become a tradition each year next to the annual Helping Hands Hoagie Sale in the winter, and the Gobble Up Hunger food drive during Thanksgiving.
“There’s a lot of people hurting out there in our community and immediate outside community,” said Lucarini’s husband Ron, Orchard Valley Middle School social studies teacher. “Washington Township rallies for these types of projects; they support these service activities and community-led projects.”
If residents are unable to visit a school or the Municipal Building to select a child in need, they may email LaVoe at MLaVoe@wtps.org.
