Through holiday gift giving, the SCHS community finds ways to make a difference in someone else’s winter. Whether it is through donations, volunteering at local charities or positively influencing others, the way various groups give back has evolved over the years.
Alongside the seasonal spirit and festivities that bring joy to many people, uplifting others through works of service is an important aspect of many students’ holiday season. Freshman Yug Chopda shared the individual mindset that comes with serving others.
“Giving back is not related to some other event where someone else has given back. It’s just from your own goodwill,” Chopda said. “You feel the need that you should help someone and nothing else has influenced this.”
Understanding the influence of community on individuals, senior Audrey Bartolome mentioned the significance of doing good deeds for others in whatever way possible.
“I think it’s important to do your part for the community, especially if you’re in a place where you’re able to give back to people who don’t have as much as you,” Bartolome said. “It’s important to do your part so everyone can have the same feeling of joy throughout the holiday times.”
Currently, many students across campus are finding ways to serve others by actively participating in volunteering with local organizations. Sophomore Vanessa Dinh helps out at the senior center and homeless shelter to create resources for individuals in need.
“My youth group fundraises a bunch of money and also gets donations to pack hygiene bags to give back to the homeless shelters during the holidays,” Dinh said.
While Dinh directly works with groups, Chopda finds joy in participating in activities like marathons that receive donations to make an impact elsewhere.
“Every year for the past few years, I’ve been doing something called a Turkey Trot. It’s sort of an annual 5k that many organizations host. When you pay for this, the money goes to various charities,” Chopda said.
Similar to out-of-school organizations that students can volunteer for, SCHS partners with the Family Giving Tree yearly to bring this same motif of giving back to campus. Small trees filled with tags of potential gifts for children and families are placed in rooms across campus, such as the SBO, library and front office.
“They put a tree in the lobby, and then you picked off a random note, and then it had the name of the child, the age of them, and then some toys that they would be interested in,” Bartolome said. “That was a pretty easy way to give back to people who wouldn’t be able to have gifts for Christmas.”
After students drop off the gifts they bought to the SBO, they get taken to the Family Giving Tree’s warehouse where the gifts reach the child who requested it. Vice Principal Sharon Freeman shared the large amount of participation that the organization needs to accomplish this goal of gifting the children.
“With the Family Giving Tree, their job is to connect with groups and those in need. It can be infants all the way to the elderly, and they make a request for some sort of gift,” Freeman said. “They (Family Giving Tree) have 1,000s of volunteers throughout the holiday season that come on through and either sort gifts, or take in the gifts. There’s lots of jobs that happen.”
Observing its impact on campus, Freeman believes the physical aspect of the giving tree brings in more participation from students and families.
“Being able to actually bring something in, that’s why I think Family Giving Tree still does really well for us,” Freeman said. “You can actually go out and make a purchase and see something that you’re actually buying and giving to someone in particular versus just donating money.”
Alongside partnering with the Family Giving Tree, SCHS used to work with Second Harvest Food Bank, which Freeman noticed received a similar response from students.
“The school really liked Second Harvest because people would be able to bring in food, and we’d have the barrels around campus. But after Covid, Second Harvest moved all of their donations to just monetary donations,” Freeman said.
Though the Giving Tree has been slow in the past, Dinh expects more students will participate this year due to the increase in advertising.
“Last year, we did not get that much. We had like 30 participants within the whole school. I think this year, there’s a lot more publicization about it, so I guess I’m expecting more people to do the Giving Tree,” Dinh said.
Having volunteered with Second Harvest Food Bank centers in Santa Cruz, librarian Jon Wilson encouraged students to find an organization or community that they are willing to give back to.
“Reach out to local food banks. I know that in my area, the Second Harvest Food Bank, they provide a pretty robust kind of outreach. They’re involved in houses of worship, and they’re involved in holiday events that get their name recognition out there,” Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of people being aware that there are locations where you can donate physical and financial gifts to help address those needs.”
Although students may feel that providing service to others could require a lot of effort or monetary donations, Freeman reassured that giving back can come in many different forms.
“Every little bit can help, and no matter how little you think you can give, that can mean the world to someone,” Freeman said.