On a cold Friday morning, two Cal State Monterey Bay students sort through piles of donated books for a holiday gift drive benefitting parents enrolled in the university.
Festive gift wrapping supplies and stacks of cardboard boxes surround the student volunteers. Together they discuss which books should make the cut and join the row of plastic tubs already stuffed to the brim.
Liberal studies major Piper Ellison said this is the first time the College of Education is collecting and adding books to the presents.
“We got quite a few books this year and we're very, very happy with the turnout for that,” said Ellison, who believes getting these books in the hands of children encourages a passion for reading.
Now in its fourth year, the drive is led by Daisy Moore, CSUMB’s Basic Needs Care Coordinator. She said the goal is to sponsor 100 families after supporting 57 last year. That’s up from 12 the first year.
This time around, Moore got to planning early to spread the word across campus.
“This year we started advertising and recruiting wishlists in November, first, and then connecting those wishlists with staff and faculty so that they had the opportunity to shop, you know, Black Friday sales or whatnot,” she said.
While students are welcome to participate in the gifting, Moore said the focus is on staff and faculty. That’s because, she said, she doesn’t love the idea of students spending on other students.
Craft supplies and Spider-Man topped many children’s lists this year. But, one pop culture phenomenon in particular was especially coveted.
“KPop Demon Hunters was a big, a big request, so that's fun,” said Moore.
Besides toys, parents are asked to list items for the whole family that will make the holiday season less stressful. Household necessities like laundry soap and gas cards are among the most frequent requests.
Moore said one of the biggest challenges is finding the students they want to help.
“People that we really wanna reach, we just can't figure out how to contact them in a way that they'll actually read that email or check that Instagram post,” she said.
To broaden their reach, Basic Needs partnered with the financial aid office to send emails to students who listed dependents on their forms. That’s not a guarantee they’re parents, but it’s a good guess. Moore said last year about 600 CSUMB students claimed dependents.
With recent cuts to federal government programs, families are experiencing added financial hardships this holiday season.
Aeris Elder is a parenting-student who transferred to CSUMB this semester. She relies on programs such as cash aid and SNAP, or food stamps. “And because of that, holidays can be really rough,” she said.
But, knowing presents will be under the tree for her 3-year-old daughter is a huge relief.
“Being able to say, ‘Santa's coming’ and have something for her to open. So this was pretty special for us,” said Elder, whose daughter loves all things sharks, dinosaurs, and Bluey.
Elder ran a parenting student support group at her community college. She said resources were slim, and toy drives were out of the picture. Since coming to CSUMB, she notices a huge difference in the support for the holidays and year round.
Responses like this motivate Moore to continue developing the drive.
“Last year some parents would get very teary-eyed when they opened their gifts,” she said, “and realized the amount of support and care that the institution was able to support.”
Moore wants the drive to serve as a reminder for student-parents that CSUMB cares and that the school sees them.
She estimates that at least 200 kids will open gifts from this year’s drive.
Moore hopes to offer even more presents next year.
“We will take all the support for our parenting students we can.”
