Class adopts family for holidays

Bridget Nelson, Emily Scruggs, Summer Lambert and Michaela Trimble, all expected 2013 graduates of the Global Marketing Communication and Advertising program, purchased several holiday gifts for a family they found through the Home for Little Wanderers. Nelson and Scruggs are holding winter coats provided for the family.

More than 30 students in the Global Marketing Communication and Advertising (GMCA) graduate program have purchased gifts for a financially struggling family living in Boston.

“The holidays are a time for giving more than receiving. I’ve always felt that way,” said Summer Lambert, MA ’13, who organized the gift giving.

Lambert chose a family of four through the Home for Little Wanderers organization shortly after Thanksgiving, and then decided to ask her classmates for help.

“The students in our classes talk about how much of a family we’ve all become,” Lambert said. “When I saw you could adopt a family through the Home for Little Wanderers, I thought of my GMCA family. That’s what sparked the idea of doing this as a class.”

The students in the GMCA program all take the same four classes together—connecting them more than a typical college class.

The group divided up items the family placed on a wish list, and has come through with nearly all of them. The gifts include a George Foreman grill; crock pot; set of dishes; Barnes & Noble gift card; and winter clothes, coats, and shoes for the children.

Lambert said she will not meet the recipients of the gifts, but received a profile of who they are: A 61-year-old grandmother and 36-year-old mother with two children, a 12-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl.

“I really like this family,” Lambert said. “The profile talked about how creative they are, and how they find seashells on the beach and pick mushrooms together.

“They’re going through such a hard time financially,” Lambert continued, “but they find time to do super-creative and awesome art projects. That really spoke to me. I feel like so many families these days don’t do things together.”

Nearly all of the GMCA students jumped on board with the idea of donating the gifts.

“I know a lot of people in my class are financially burdened themselves,” Lambert said. “But even the two or three people who weren’t able to purchase a gift volunteered to transport the presents for the family. They still wanted to help out.”

Emerson is giving back to the Greater Boston community in other ways this holiday season as well.

• The Emerson College Police Department is collecting toys for the Toys for Tots Foundation until December 19. Drop-off bins are at three locations on campus: The Police Department in the Little Building, 80 Boylston St.; the security post at Piano Row, 150 Boylston St.; and the security post at the Paramount Center, 555 Washington St. Last year the Police Department collected more than 250 new, unwrapped toys for children in the Boston area.
• President Lee Pelton’s office collected more than 100 sets of children’s pajamas at the annual faculty and staff holiday party December 10. The pajamas will be donated to the Pajama Program to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy.
• The Office of Government and Community Relations participated in the St. Francis House holiday gift drive by supporting a resident of the Next Step Housing program with items on that person’s wish list, which were donated December 11.