Local college students embrace the season of giving
Harry Oakes, sophomore electronic media major, counts some of the 1,788 toys from collected from students, staff and alumni during Waynesburg University's toy drive.
Mari Boyle, a senior political science major from Greensburg, helps load a school bus with presents to be donated to the Toys for Tots Stuff a Bus toy drive.
It’s the holiday season, and local college students are embracing it by giving back to the community.
It seems there’s always been a big push for charitable giving around Christmastime, said Washington & Jefferson College Director of Community Engagement Justin Dandoy.
Much of the college’s work to volunteer in and around Washington comes organically. His office and others throughout campus do their best to meet the requests they receive for help.
“There seems to be there’s extra need around the holidays, for whatever reason,” he said. “We really try to focus on needs that are out there and what we can do to meet those needs.”
Rather than coming up with ideas for the best things to do, helping when asked makes sure their efforts are going to things the community actually needs, rather than what those on the outside think might is best.
Dandoy hopes when students help others around the holidays, it inspires them to give back year-round. There’s always need, not just in December. Working with local agencies may inspire them to continue after the snow melts.
“It encourages them to connect throughout the year and beyond,” he said. “What volunteering and giving back does this time of year allows that to spread as a sense of who they are throughout the rest of the year.”
Waynesburg University’s communications students have been competing to collect the most toys for area children for about a decade. Assistant communications professor Chad Sherman said that first year, the group received just nine toy donations, mostly from staff.
“Each year, we added new elements to encourage our students to donate more toys,” Sherman added.
This year was the best yet, with 1,788 toys from students, staff and alumni, all of which will go to Greene County Toys for Tots.
The collection is a part of a competition between the department’s two majors: print and broadcast.
“The students tend to be very competitive so I used that to the toy drive’s benefit. During our annual Christmas party, we have various games that we use to determine which side is the champion of the department and receives the departmental trophy for the next year. The Toys for Tots toy drive is one of the competitions,” Sherman said.” Because the students are so competitive, they have donated more and more toys each year to best their rivals.”
Senior electronic media major Shon Meade said the print team has won the annual ‘Duel in Buhl’ for the past three years, but this year was finally broadcast’s time to shine.
“It was relieving to see broadcast come together and get a win for the seniors. Broadcast has lost the last three years so we had the feeling of losing to fuel us into victory this year,” he said. “Sure, there’s a competitive element to it as the team that brings in the most toys gets a point toward the competition, but we really do see the bigger picture and realize that these toys go right back into this community.”
The school also makes sure to give back to Greene County outside the holiday season. Meade said he and his classmates spend a lot of time in the community, from announcing high school games to covering regional events. The broadcast students also produce a video for the Waynesburg Christmas Parade each year.
Of course, Waynesburg University isn’t the only local college making sure to give back this holiday season.
Washington & Jefferson College sponsors and serves as Washington County’s collection site each year for the Stuff-A-Bus toy drive by 96.1 KISS FM. The drive benefits the greater Pittsburgh Toys for Tots program and the college has been involved since 2014. Staff, students and community members alike are able to drop off unwrapped toys at the college each winter. Toys were collected between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, and on that last day, a red W&J college van was filled and delivered to the central collection point at Robinson Towne Center. Enough toys were collected across the Pittsburgh region to fill 59 buses.
But W&J doesn’t stop there with helping Washington residents during the Christmas season. Dandoy said the school and his department hold two additional toy drives.
The men and women’s basketball teams collected toys for Washington County’s Toys for Tots during their basketball clinic for local kids Nov. 26. Instead of charging for the event, entry is a donation for the drive.
The college also participates in CoCo’s Christmas at LeMoyne Community Center. The event is an open holiday store; families that don’t qualify for Toys for Tots and other programs at Christmas can shop at the center and select donated gifts at no charge. Dandoy said student collected about 100 gifts for this event alone, and supplied volunteers to sort donations, set up for the event and helped out Saturday.
California University of Pennsylvania also participated in the Stuff-A-Bus drive, which was spearheaded by student government.
“I really enjoy this because some children are not fortunate enough to get anything for Christmas, so helping with this really does make you feel good,” said Vlaney Almaraz, Student Government Association recording secretary.
Cal U. also locally collected toys for an angel tree through Grace United Methodist Church in Brownsville. Diane Hasbrouck, the director of the Center for Volunteer Programs and Service Learning, said gifts from that collection were split between Brownsville Elementary and Beverly’s Birthdays, which helps celebrate the birthdays of homeless children across the Pittsburgh region.
Elementary-aged toys were provided to about 40 to 50 students, Hasbrouck said, and the remainder were provided to Beverly’s Birthdays. She added that about 75 gifts in total were collected for the local drive.