Anticipation builds as a little boy sits in his trailer home, patiently waiting. A wide grin spreads across his face as he sees ASBL coming through the front door, bearing gifts as a part of People for People’s Adopt-a-Family program.
Every year, People for People accepts holiday gift requests and wish lists from families in the area who are in need and distributes them to groups who volunteer to fulfill them. ASBL buys as many gifts as they can for around six to seven families each year through this program.
“Adopt-a-Family is a wonderful way to give back to the community and help families in need during the holiday season,” ASBL President Senior Vivian Ka said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to give a little to those less fortunate than us and it brings ASBL closer together as well.”
Ka is in charge of the program for ASBL and assigns the families to a committee in ASBL. Some committees are larger or smaller than others, therefore she tries to correspond the number of people in each separate family with the number of people in each committee.
The locations of the families differ from year to year, so ASBL members aren’t sure where they’ll be delivering gifts to until they are assigned a family. ASBL personally delivers the gifts to each family’s home a week before Christmas.
The money spent on the presents is out of each ASBL members’ pockets, rather than coming from the school’s ASBL fund.
“Last year, I went with my committee to deliver gifts, each of us spending around fifteen to twenty dollars, for a family in El Monte,” Junior Class President Aaron Huang said. “When we got there, it was a mess outside of the house. There were things all over the place, and when we went in and talked to the mom, it turned out that she just had a baby. She told us how tough the economy has been for them and how it’s even tougher now with the baby. Afterwards, she thanked us for giving her the gifts. It reminds us that we are so fortunate to have the things we have.”
Adopted families don’t always ask for toys or games as you would usually expect. Sometimes, they ask for necessities such as soap, bed sheets, pots and pans and basic clothing for younger kids.
“I feel that this program is enlightening for everyone involved, it’s a great way to support and spread the holiday spirit for families that may not have the same opportunities that we have,” Assemblies Commissioner Junior Kyle Huang said. “It’s also a fun experience to get gifts for people that you don’t know, and also knowing that you’re able to grant their wishes by just taking your own time, effort and money and investing it in a deserving group of people.”