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Family Giving Tree 2016

Ashley Zhuang


During the holiday season of 2016, GLI partnered with an organization called Family Giving Tree to get some extraordinary work done. So many kids in our local area don’t get to celebrate the holidays with the gifts that we all take for granted. For those of us with this privilege, our job is to spread the holiday joy to these low-income families. Global Leadership did exactly that by collecting donations and volunteering at the Family Giving Tree warehouse.

We collected two types of donations: general gifts and wish list items. General gifts could be anything new just lying around people’s houses, and our GLI members were able to donate around 70 items! These items ranged from books to clothing articles to everything in between. Wish list items were specific gifts requested by low income households. We were given these wish lists and went out and bought the items. It is amazing how this simple act can bring someone out there so much happiness for this cheerful season. Everyone was able to make use of new items they had laying around and money they were not going to need, and realizing the ability we have to give back to our community with small acts of generosity is incredible.

On Friday, December 23, 2016, about 40 GLI members gathered at the Family Giving Tree warehouse in Sunnyvale to volunteer, giving up a day of their break to do some good work. Together, we wrapped and labeled presents that were to be delivered to families for Christmas. It was a great experience to feel yourself physically be doing something to make a difference in the lives of other people. Everyone was also able to bond and work together to wrap presents and do good for others. We worked for a total of four hours, and everyone was extremely satisfied with all they had done. There is no better feeling than volunteering during the holiday season because the holidays are all about giving and selflessness. Overall, our Family Giving Tree project was extremely successful due to the different ways we were able bring happiness to others during the holidays, and continuing and bettering this project each year will truly help us make an impact on our community and the lives within it.