Adopt-A-Family Campaign

Written by Savannah Binder, Student

Being a part of Guelph Hillel this year has been truly incredible, largely because of the unprecedented and overwhelming success of our Adopt-A-Family Campaign. The goal of the campaign, organized by The Children’s Foundation of Guelph-Wellington, was to raise money and physical goods that would make a Guelph family’s Holiday season a special one. We initially sponsored a family of five- two parents and three children (9 months, 7 and 11 years old).  Their wants and needs included toiletries, hair products, elastics, headbands and diapers. On their wish list were Google and Microplay gift cards, art supplies, and toys to help the baby learn to walk.

I had no idea that it would be such a success! We branched out to students all across campus, and got a tremendous response, even from people that had never heard of Hillel before! People from all over campus came by to drop off money, gift cards, and other physical items on the list.

The Children’s Foundation of Guelph-Wellington had given us a realistic goal to reach. We had never run a project like this, so we could not anticipate what the response on-campus would be like. I was in total awe of the outpouring of kindness and generosity from the university community. We managed to surpass our goal, and, in the end, raised a total of $600!  With the extra money, we were able to fulfill our family’s entire wants and needs list, give them extra grocery cards as well as obtain additional grocery cards for families who were not sponsored. It warms my heart that, in addition to fulfilling an entire family’s holiday wish list, we were able to give other families a nice surprise. Needless to say, the organizers at the Children’s Foundation were very impressed. Everyone involved is incredibly thankful for the generosity shown by the campus community.

Having the honour of being a part of this uplifting project has really shown me that it does not take a lot of effort to make a difference. Beyond that, it has reminded me of the inherent kindness and love human beings can, and want, to extend to one another.  Everyone at Hillel, including myself, hopes to continue to be part of wonderful projects such as this- ones that prove that we are all here for one another in this journey we call Life.