COAR Wrapping Party

By JAZMIN AUSTEN

Students joined together in the Dome Room of Seacobeck Hall to help Community Outreach and Resources (COAR) wrap charitable donation boxes on Friday, Nov. 15. COAR provided assorted cookies and hot chocolate for their helpers, and played Christmas music continually throughout the wrapping party. The boxes wrapped will then be used to house presents for children in need.

After signing in, everyone was given a box and wrapping paper to share, before setting to work on wrapping. Students bonded over their wrapping triumphs and failures, as they set to their tasks of separately wrapping a shoe box and the lid, so presents could be put in at a later date.

Elizabeth Storey, a senior psychology major attended this event for the past three years.

“[Wrapping] gets me in the Christmas spirit, and it’s fun too,” said Storey.

Watching everyone at the wrapping party help out and volunteer their time is a wonderful sight to see.

“It is very rewarding to know that our efforts are working to provide helpful and needed items to preschoolers enrolled in the Head Start programs in our community,” said junior psychology major and COAR member Madeline Moravitz.

The Head Start program is a national organization that has branches in the communities surrounding the University of Mary Washington. The goal of the organization is to provide at risk children with support and education. According to the organization’s website, the non-profit group is “committed to the belief that every child, regardless of circumstances at birth, has the ability to succeed in life. The opportunities offered by Head Start lead to healthier, empowered children and families, and stronger, more vibrant communities.”

“It is a great way to have the student body involved with the community,” said junior sociology major Sarah Arnold. “It is rewarding for the children as well as the students who are volunteering their time.”