The spirit of giving is in the air at NC and the Give Back committee’s ‘adopt a family’ initiative is back for the 2022 holiday season.
The NC community is encouraged to get involved by reaching out to NC families in need and ‘adopt a family’ or give a gift to a child.
Reach out to NC families in need
Embrace the holiday spirit of giving and support those in need in the College community. Each year, the Give Back Committee supports student families in need by accepting offerings of children’s gifts, clothing and food to ease the strain of the holiday season. Please contact Valerie Regehr at [email protected] for info.
Give a gift to a child
Christmas trees will be placed at the libraries at both campus locations in mid-November. Each tree will be filled with ornaments that represent children in need from NC student families. Each ornament will feature the age and gender of a child in need.
Participants are encouraged to choose an ornament and purchase a gift for that child.
Niagara College families are identified on the back of the ornament. Attach the child’s ornament to an unwrapped gift and place it back under the Christmas tree.
Ornaments are expected to be available by November 18.
Gift donations must be made before Friday, December 9.
‘Balancing work, finances and family can be extremely overwhelming’
The initiative has been led by Valerie Regehr for the past 15 years, with assistance from her co-workers at the NC Libraries and Learning Commons.
Regehr noted that the names of families in need are provided to her by different departments. She collects gifts and divides them up for families, to be distributed by the individual that puts their name forward. She also works closely with departments that participate in ‘adopt a family’ to provide as much detail as possible so that gifts may be customized.
“The need to support our NC families during the holidays is incredibly important and very near and dear to my heart,” said Regehr.
Regehr recalled how she was a NC student with a young daughter at home and can appreciate the financial implications that accompany the decision to further one’s education while providing for a family, and how balancing work, finances and family can be “extremely overwhelming.”
“The added pressures of the holiday season can negatively impact that balance and being able to alleviate some or all of that strain from a family during the holiday season is very important, not only to myself but by the College community as whole,” she said. “The generosity of our NC community is absolutely outstanding and is so greatly appreciated by our NC families.
“Seeing the difference that this generosity makes for these families is what motivates me to continue these important initiatives that have become such a big part of our College community.”
