We all know that although Christmas can be “the most wonderful time of the year”, it can also be the most stressful – endless shopping in order to find the right gifts for loved ones. But for some families, Christmas can become more of a burden then a blessing. These underprivileged families, stricken with misfortune and poverty, often cannot provide a plethora of gifts to their families; fortunately, Jesuit is always ready to assist.
For almost two decades, Jesuit has run the Adopt-a-Family program to bring happiness to families across the city of Dallas. Every year, with help from the Jesuit Women’s Auxiliary (JWA), the Jesuit Alumni Association organizes volunteers from the Jesuit community, who venture out to buy Christmas presents for 100 families.
Each family provides a wishlist, offering ideas for the community to fulfill. Alumni Director Kevin Mullan said that, “As far as organizing [and wrapping] all the gifts, it can be a little difficult, but collecting enough gifts for the families is not a problem at all in a community like this.”
Mullan simply remarked that being able to bring Christmas to families that might not otherwise have it is “incredible.”
When Mullan talked about the importance of the Adopt-a-Family Project, he stated that, “I believe it’s one of the biggest projects of the year at Jesuit. It sums up what the Jesuit Mission is – ‘Men and Women for Others’.”
When all the gifts are collected on December 11, all members of the project celebrate Mass in the Terry Center and finish by wrapping all the gifts. After the wrapping, the gifts are delivered to the agencies that will then bring the gifts to the families.
Mullan finished by adding that, “This project at some places would be quite hard to do, but at Jesuit Dallas, it’s no problem at all.”
Overall, the Adopt-a-Family project sums up the character and composure of a member of the Jesuit family, and the importance of service to the community. Christmas is a special time of year, and giving the gift of service makes it that much better.
