The holidays are often a time of gift giving. Stores are crowded with shoppers looking for presents to give to family and friends.
Yet, these presents can be hard to afford. The program Adopt a Family, which is a part of the organization SAY San Diego, encourages people to sign up and give gifts to low income families in San Diego.
This year, seniors Rebecca Lim and Zac Sippel led the Adopt a Family committee at San Dieguito Academy, overseeing the 32 homerooms, clubs, and teams who requested to take part in the program. Participants were given a list that included the names of the family members, their ages, clothing sizes, and the items each wanted for Christmas.
“Over the course of about three weeks each homeroom buys gifts for some of the members, and then we all hold them in the ASB room until the day we bring them down to San Diego and drop them off at the organization’s headquarters,” explained Sippel.
By the time the deadline arrived, the ASB room was filled with gifts and donations ready to be sent to the families.
“From multiple bikes to grocery store gift cards, we were very grateful and impressed by the turnout. By the end of Monday, our classroom was crowded with tons of gifts!” said Lim.
ASB hopes to continue the Adopt a Family program at SDA next year, according to Lim.
“The whole ASB team was truly happy and thankful to witness the success of an annual event that never fails to show the giving spirit that exists here at SDA,” she added. “I’m confident that these efforts will bring around many smiles for this holiday season.”