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The Harvard Longwood Campus (HLC) 2024 Season of Giving kicked off Nov. 4 with a food drive in the lead-up to Thanksgiving and continues in December with a toy drive.
Launched in 2012, the Season of Giving is an opportunity for HLC community members to support at-need neighbors and express gratitude to colleagues.
Partnering with Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), a student-run public services organization at Harvard College, the toy drive will benefit children in the Greater Boston area.
People interested in taking part in the toy drive can drop off gifts at locations around campus or purchase items online from wish lists compiled by community organizations that PBHA partners with.
The on-campus toy drive goes through Dec. 13, and the online toy drive ends Dec. 16.
What has been the impact of the Season of Giving, and what makes a memorable gift? MyHMS chatted with Joanne Choi, HR coordinator at HMS, who helps organize the HLC Season of Giving, and Travis Lovett, assistant dean for civic engagement and service at Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, who helps organize the PBHA toy drive.
MyHMS: Since launching in 2012, do you have any sense of the number of families who have been helped by the Season of Giving?
Joanne Choi: We partner with two great charities: Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) for our food drive and Phillips Brooks House Association for our toy drive. Last year we helped 75 families with our food drive. We’ve worked with both charities for years and have great relationships with them. We just finished our food drive this year and we collected seven boxes’ worth of donations.
MyHMS: How many toys do you hope to collect?
Choi: As many as possible! Last year we were able to collect 200 toys and made so many kids happy. This year, we are hoping to surpass that number.
MyHMS: What do you think are this year’s must-have toys?
Choi: I think Legos, coloring books, stickers, stuffed animals, and educational toys are always a win. And good old card and board games always work.
Travis Lovett: Community organizations we work with request books, art supplies, sports equipment, games, and toys that have broader benefit. Organizations working with tweens and teens tend to struggle during this time of year, so we collaborate with them to build wish lists with items that connect with that age group.
MyHMS: Any favorite memories from the toy drive over the years?
Lovett: I think the most fun I’ve had in 19 years of co-organizing our toy drive was going on a shopping spree for the kids. We had a donor provide us with $2,500 in gift cards to go shopping on behalf of our community partners, and it was such a blast. The problem was that I didn’t have enough room in my car to bring toys back to campus — I had stuffed animals riding on my lap to make it all work.
We also had one year when someone donated about 100 stuffed goats to us. It felt like that scene in the movie Fred Claus where each kid got a hula hoop or a baseball bat for the holiday season. Each partner program working with young kids ended up with about a dozen stuffed goats mixed into their toy bags.
MyHMS: Do you have a favorite memory of a toy you received as a gift when you were a child?
Choi: Yes! I still remember getting my Easy Bake Oven and how much I loved making little cakes in it. I also remember screaming with happiness when my parents bought my sister and me a Barbie house.
MyHMS: Any collaboration with Santa Claus?
Choi: Not yet! He’s been very busy and hard to reach since he lives in the North Pole. If you know his PR elf, please let me know.
