Wrapping Gifts for Underprivileged Children

                 As the winter holidays were rapidly approaching, Pace University sought to bring some holiday cheer to the children of the Pleasantville Cottage School.  Every year, the Honors College hosts a Wrapping Gifts for Underprivileged Children event for the Pleasantville Cottage School and the Children’s Village. This year the event was held on Tuesday, November 29 in the Gottesman Room of the Kessel Student Center and was co-sponsored by Golden Key International Honor Society.  The event was held from 3:35-4:30pm during Common Hour and a pizza lunch was served. Students wrapped gifts and wrote holiday cards which would be delivered to the students of the Cottage School.  There was at least one gift for every child and for many of these children this would be the only gift they receive during the holiday season.  It was great to see Honors College students making the holidays more enjoyable for community children.

This event took some intricate planning and preparing, in addition to good cheer.  Faculty and students in the Honors College took a trip to “Toys R Us” and other stores to purchase many different presents and the supplies needed to decoratively wrap them.  These gifts then filled the Gottesman Room and the doors opened

for all Honors College students willing to help.  This event always has a large turnout of students and it did not disappoint this year.  People wrapped gifts, wrote cards, ate pizza, conversed, and a great time was had by all.  Ms Canada Fitts, Director of Volunteers at the Children’s Village, was the guest speaker at the event and was very appreciative of the efforts of the Pace students. After the event, students helped load the gifts onto the vans to be delivered to the Pleasantville Cottage School and Children’s Village.

This was one of the best Honors events that I have attended because I was helping others and had fun doing it. One first-year student, Alex Theodores, said this about the Wrapping Gifts event: “It was a rewarding experience and reminded people of something that is often forgotten around Christmas time, which is selfless giving.” Catherine Whelan, another Honors first-year student described the event as “a fulfilling experience. Knowing that I helped make Christmas brighter for these children felt really good.”  The Wrapping Gifts event was an extremely worthwhile experience and I would not hesitate to participate again next season.