Residential Life’s 16th annual Hand to Heart project, a program that has students purchase gifts for children from low-income families in the Binghamton area to make Christmas a little brighter, is underway.
Students can request a gift bag to fill from their resident assistant and are assigned to shop for a girl or boy of a specific age to meet the Salvation Army’s requests.
“They already had one sign-up for 1,100 children in need,” said Jean Pitely, Hand to Heart program coordinator. “To make sure we give them what they’re looking for, we give them what they request.”
According to Pitely, secretary for Residential Life, Binghamton University puts together nearly 1,200 gift bags every year.
“We give between 1,200, up to 1,500 bags,” Pitely said. “That was the highest for one year. And Salvation Army absolutely adores us. If I called and [said], ‘Yes, we’re doing it again,’ they are thrilled because it helps them so much. We even are taking stocking stuffers, just something to remember the child.”
Through the Hand to Heart program, students have the opportunity to help parents provide a Christmas for their children without spending a lot of money, according to Pitely.
“It’s nice to ask students to give up a pizza or the cost of a movie,” she said. “[It] doesn’t have to be real expensive, just so we have something to give these children so they’re remembered.”
Ashley Ragusa, an RA in Dickinson Community’s Digman Hall and treasurer of National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH), said buying gifts for the children is easy.
“It is something very simple and fun, to buy a child a gift and it will really make someone else’s day,” Ragusa wrote in an email. “The gifts can range from anything such as clothing items, stuffed animals, gloves, scarf, or shampoo, toothpaste etc. (things that are not covered by food stamps).”
Residential Life requests unwrapped, new items without price tags. They suggested that sports equipment, board games and craft kits, as well as practical items, would be good gifts to give.
Lindsay Ralbovsky, a resident assistant in Dickinson Community’s Rafuse Hall and vice president of NRHH, said the Hand to Heart program is important for many reasons, including making a child’s holiday special.
“It’s not only a great way for Binghamton University to stay connected with the Binghamton community and show our support and willingness to work with them, it’s also a great thing you can do to make a child’s day this holiday season; a child who would otherwise be getting nothing now gets a whole bag of gifts!” Ralbovsky, a senior majoring in comparative literature, wrote in an email.
Ragusa said she believes BU should connect to the community with programs like this whenever possible.
“Just as student’s home communities exist in many different domains so does the Binghamton community,” said Ragusa, a senior majoring in psychology. ”There are ways to impact the campus as well as the community and we should not forget that we are not only residents of Binghamton University but actually Broome County as well, during our stay here as students.”
Each December, Ralbovsky enjoys seeing the residential communities drop off their filled bags.
“It was awesome to see it all come together, and really encouraging to see how many kids will be getting gifts,” she said.
Ragusa said she believes all children should have a happy holiday.
“Children should not be deprived of joy during the holidays,” Ragusa wrote. “Every little bit truly does count.”
Hand to Heart is co-sponsored each year by Residential Life and NRHH. Students who wish to sign-up can talk to their RA, and off-campus students can go to the Residential Life Office. Bags should be returned to RAs or the ResLife office no later than Dec. 7.
This year, NRHH will sponsor a pizza party for the residential hall with the most participants and gift bags donated.