Another successful Giving Tree Distribution
“Everything needs to be in order! Please don’t outpace,” advised Mrs. Sharon Ma, the advisor of Community Service Club (CSC).
On November 20 4:00 PM, the packing party officially began. Packing party is an event where the students and teachers form an assembly line at the first-floor auditorium. They would visit stations that were assigned to different items and fill up Giving Tree bags with the gifts that were bought with donations.
“Even though there was conflict in time, we made our way through until the end of it with everyone’s passion and eagerness for Giving Tree. At the end of the packing party we faced some an unexpected setback. We almost ran out of books for the children, but with the wisdom of the teachers and help of the members, we made sure each bag got a book and made all bags complete,” commented Jisoo Park (12A), the leader of the Giving Tree Project.
“The packing party is just amazing because so many people come together to help accomplish the huge task of packing the bags. With everyone working together there’s a great sense of excitement and community, and it makes all the hard work fun. I feel like we’re more organized this year. The officers are more experienced, and this really helps things to run smoothly,” said Mrs. Corie Denning, advisor of the CSC.
The next day, CSC members, students, and teachers headed to SuZhou for the Giving Tree Distribution Ceremony.
Giving Tree is an annual project led by the CSC with advisors, Mrs. Sharon Ma and Mrs. Corie Denning, which helps migrant students by donating living necessities, and gifts according to their preferences. “For this year’s Giving Tree, we went outside Shanghai and were able to reach the children in Suzhou. This opportunity, I believe, made our scope of influence further out to a broader community, ” said Jisoo.
After a 3-hour drive, due to bad weather condition and traffic, the volunteers finally arrived at the school, receiving warm welcomes from the children.
Unlike last year, the bags were placed outside the corresponding classrooms of the children before the Distribution Ceremony. After listening to directions given by Mrs. Sharon Ma, and the organizers of the Giving Tree project, the volunteers entered the classrooms which they were assigned to. They delivered speeches and handed out bags to every student.
The bags were filled with life necessities, toys, and other gifts based on the student’s gender and interests. As the children opened their bags to see what they got, they showed off the gifts that they received to their classmates. Kids repeatedly shouted “I am happy,” showing gratitude to CSC.
“Distribution is just heartwarming. I love seeing the children opening their bags. It’s like Christmas morning times six hundred and fifty,” commented Mrs. Denning.
Joy Tang (10C) added, “I loved watching the children open their bags and seeing their genuine happiness and smiles. Although those children do not have the materialistic things that we do, they’re probably happier than us because they appreciate this world more than we do.”
Jisoo gave a shout-out to the CSC members who worked hard, saying, “Thank you all who joined and helped this event in different means– from donating and forming an assembly line at the packing party, to going to the actual distribution party. For the CSC members, Giving Tree was well prepared with your contribution in ordering, promoting, counting donations, delivery, and supervising the packing party stations. Without your help, this event would not have occurred. With this year’s experience, please take the lead in Giving Tree to make it more successful next year!”
Featured image – Children shout “thank you” to the volunteers as they open the bags Photo Courtesy of Kelly Woo
by Kelly Woo