Madonna University Christmas for Kids Project 2007

We started in November - fundraising, connecting with the community partners:

St. Christine Christian Service Brightmoor Area, Detroit (serving White and Black families)

Covenant House Transition Training in Southwest Detroit (serving Hispanic and African American families)

Wayne Westland Schools Family Services (serving primarily white and Asian families)

Madonna University students in need.

Then, we ask members of the MU community (faculty, students and staff) to sponsor families.

Next we recruit volunteers to shop, sort, wrap and deliver. It took four days to deliver.

All is well in the end. God is Great!



Amber Lee is one of the faithful ones - she is here helping every year.










Each gift is wrapped with much love and care.



Each child received an article of clothing, a book and a toy. Modest gifts in this land of plenty.



Tara is one of our alumni - she started helping with the project when she was a student.



My friend Larry Willis. He has helped me in a lot of projects for years now. Nicki's children think that I am married to him.



The stuffed animals are mostly donated. It is up to us to distribute them to the families.



A group of students doing sorting and wrapping of gifts and food.



Gina DeMatteo and Keith Messisco. Gina is the Chairperson of Caritas Madonna. Caritas in partnership with the Student Government Association sponsor the annual Christmas for Kids Project. Keith cosponsored a family of four with Peggy Downs, the MU information desk assistant.



My boss, Sr. Nancy was "Delivery Chief."



We were able to help 60 families with 154 children. Sr. Caroline from St. Christine Christian Service sent a very nice thank you letter. We helped with 30 out of her 800+ families.

Madonna University Christmas for Kids

December 3, 2007

A Blessed and Happy Holiday to You and Your Loved Ones!

Thank you for caring about the needy and underprivileged in our area during this holiday season. The Christmas for Kids Project is one of the many service projects undertaken by Madonna University. This project is sponsored by the Student Government Association, Caritas Madonna and various campus organizations, with help from various departments and offices, staff, students, faculty members and the community.

The need in our area is huge this year. I currently have 8 student families in the list, 18 families from Covenant House and 30 families from St. Christine’ Christian Services.

The list of families is available at the Office of Student Life, Room 1001.

We are in need of help to provide for these families. We try to provide each child with an article of clothing, 1 toy and 1 book. We provide turkey and trimmings for a holiday meal for these families.

Our budget is $10/turkey or $12/turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and a can of sweet potatoes or pumpkin.

Your help is needed for these children. There are various ways you can help:

1 – You can sponsor a family with your family and friends.
2 – You can collect and donate nonperishable food.
3 – You can collect and donate toys.
4 – You can collect and donate money.
5 – You can come and join us on December 15th to wrap, sort and shop for food and gifts.
6 – You can come and join us and help deliver on December 20th or December 21st.

Please come to Room 1001 or call (734) 432 – 5425 or e-mail erankine@madonna.edu for more information!

Thank you again for your kindness and consideration. I hope to hear from you soon!

May God continue to shower you with lots of blessings this holiday season and the coming year!


Sincerely,

Edna M. Rankine
Office of Student Life
Activities/Wellness/Community Service

This is the 15th year that I am doing this project - times are very hard for Michigan folks right now - the highest unemployment in the US - I have an additional 25 families from one of the local school districts.

I think this is a crime in the richest country in the world that someone like me should spend the majority of my time teaching college students how to help the homeless and the hungry.

I hope someone is doing this in Catmon, also - I know that the need is great there.

The equivalent income and lifestyle according to the Asian Development Bank and the UN is this:

$40,000/year US income = $12,000/year income in the Philippines (plus you get to have household help in Catmon - so go figure!

Merry Christmas to all Catmonanons - wherever you are!