Still several opportunities to give this holiday season

Don’t forget about all the opportunities for holiday giving on campus in the next month.

Christmas Day at Pitt: Registration opened Nov. 18 for any staff or faculty interested in volunteering for Christmas Day at Pitt, sponsored by the Office of Community and Government Relations, on Dec. 25 to serve meals to members of the Pittsburgh community at the Litchfield Towers’ Market Central, in partnership with the Salvation Army and Sodexo. In addition, a hat and glove and gift drive continues through Dec. 13 to provide toys for children and winter essentials for adults who attend the Christmas Day dinner. Gifts should be new, unopened and have a retail value of $20 to $25, and they should be wrapped as a holiday present with a visible tag with information about the appropriate age and gender for the gift. Tag pickup can be coordinated with Tami Hirth: hirth@pitt.edu. All donated items can be brought to the Office of Community and Governmental Relations, 710 Alumni Hall, or coordinate a pickup by emailing cgrinfo@pitt.edu. Contact Jamie Ducar, director of community engagement, with questions.

Dietrich School: The Dietrich School Engagement Team, the Office of Veterans Services and PITT VETS are partnering with the Jerome Bettis Bus Stops Here Foundation to collect new toys and kids’ cold weather supplies to benefit the Mario Lemieux Home, Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania, and Birmingham Free Clinic. The Pitt Police also are participating in the toy drive. Drop boxes will be at 910 Cathedral of Learning, 234 Chevron Science Center, 2201 Posvar Hall, 3137 Sennott Square and 140 Thackeray Hall until Dec. 6. Items being collected include toys, games, puzzles, children’s gloves, scarves, knit caps and socks, and lip balm. For questions, contact Carol Mullen at cam108@pitt.edu or Rebecca Roadman at rebeccaroadman@pitt.edu.

School of Education: The theme for the Office of Child Development’s Books for Change book drive is books focused on equity (see the full list here), and the goal is to get students and parents having conversations about it.  The book drive is ongoing and will run throughout the entire holiday season. Those interested in in donating can: Sponsor a classroom by donating $150 or sponsor an entire school by donating $750; raise money by fundraising on your own and then buying books; or Purchase books from the curated list at White Whale Bookstore or online at bit.ly/BooksForChange.