Continuing their annual service project, Oxford’s Associated Student Body (ASB) partnered with the Bags of Hope Project to provide Christmas gifts to children in Anaheim experiencing or transitioning from homelessness. Collaborating with various clubs and organizations across campus, ASB collected a total of 51 bags packed with toys, cards, and other gifts for children in need over the week of Nov. 17-21. 

“ASB has always made it a priority to create connections within our local community. We’ve been doing Bags of Hope for a couple years now, so it’s sort of a tradition that we uphold within organizations on our campus,” ASB Community Service Commissioner sophomore Lauren Park said. 

Upholding this tradition required weeks of advance planning from Park and her co-Community Service Commissioner, Kylie Chen. Ultimately executing the process cleanly was truly a community effort requiring strong communication with the student body. Eight weeks before the big event, they crafted a planning sheet and determined this year’s publicity theme— “Care Bears” — kicking off promotions to get organizations signed up and excited to give back.

“I think everything went smoothly, and one highlight was seeing all the filled bags and loading them up, it was really amazing to see how much we donated,” Park said. “I think ASB’s goal for the project was to give organizations on campus the opportunity to reach out to our local community and unify our campus towards one cause, which in this case was Bags of Hope. It was also to make sure kids who asked for bags received the best possible gifts for the holidays.”

Students contributed to the cause by donating through participating organizations and homerooms that they were a part of, purchasing gifts based on the demographics of the child that is receiving the donation. 

“I remembered wanting to donate last year but not getting the chance to due to lack of time to buy a gift.” junior Aidan Gonzales, who donated through Key Club, said. “I learned that you should always try to help whenever you’re able to. I’ve always tried to live by this but this service project helped me realize that I’m able to help in more ways than I have been previously,”

After donations are dropped off at the Bags of Hope seasonal workshop, they are distributed by volunteers at a family pick-up night. According to their website, the organization has contributed nearly $1 million in goods since 2005, supporting their mission of inspiring people to fill donation bags for children in need.