It’s More than Community Service, It’s a Tradition!

By Doris Van Auken Ph.D.

From humble beginnings, a Holy Cross College tradition was born. In 2002, the Social Concerns Committee at Holy Cross College began an annual fund raising effort to provide Thanksgiving food baskets to those in our community who need assistance during the Holiday season. Each year the committee works with the St. Vincent de Paul Society to bring a Thanksgiving Food Basket to a number of area residents.

Baskets include all the trimmings for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, turkey, stuffing, yams, green beans, corn, pumpkin pie and – of course - cranberry sauce. There is also bread, mayo, and lettuce. Everything you need for those wonderful after Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches. But in addition to that we provide other items as well. Items such as boxed potatoes, gravy, spaghetti and spaghetti sauce, peanut butter and jelly, and fresh vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions. There is enough food for several days.

But how did this effort come about you may ask? In 2002, HCC student, Chris Edwards, asked if it would be possible to raise money to assist area residents at Thanksgiving. The Social Concerns Committee thought this was a great idea and promptly put Chris in charge of fund raising. With less than two weeks to raise funds, Chris was able to provide six baskets that first year. It was humble, but it was a start. The next year, the committee began raising funds earlier and set a goal of twelve baskets. That goal was met and exceeded; fifteen baskets found their way to those in need. Unfortunat-ely, Chris graduated from Holy Cross and moved across the street to ND to complete his BA. Before he left however, he extracted a promise from the Social Concerns Committee that they would not let his efforts end when he was no longer at HCC. The promise was made and a goal for 2004 was set – 30 baskets. Again, this goal was met. While it was thought that we could double our efforts each year, that goal was a little too ambitious. The committee decided that we should increase our goal for 2005 to 35 baskets. The outcome was never in doubt, the goal was met. In 2006 the goal was increased to 40 baskets and the committee began seeking donations from businesses located near HCC and frequented by HCC students. That year, the faculty advisor of the Social Concerns Committee sent out an email to students informing them that they did not reach the goal of 40 baskets — they raised enough money to provide 50! This was such a boast to the committee’s confidence that in 2007 their goal was 65 baskets. Again, the goal was met. However, difficulties were encountered in delivering 65 baskets so the committee decided that 60 baskets was a more attainable goal. This year, 2008, the committee began raising funds for 60 baskets. The estimated cost of each basket was $40.00. So the committee needed to raise $2400.00. By now, the entire college was in on our act and eager to help with fund raising. The Development Office and the Alumni Association were notified and given the opportunity to help in this effort. They worked their magic, and the contributions started coming in and kept on coming! The goal was easily met and exceeded. Since our beginning efforts the committee has raised over ten thousand dollars and provided 263 baskets. And if you ask anyone on the Social Concerns Committee we are just getting started!

You may be wondering how it is possible to provide so much food for only $40.00. The only way this is possible is because we have an ally in the community. That ally is the Meijer corporation. Each year, they price match the lowest price we can find. This year alone, discounts and in kind contributions totaled $1835.00. Without the help and support of Meijer we would have great difficulty reaching our annual goal. Many of the staff at Meijer await our annual call and know us by name. This year they even helped load the HCC bus!

How do I know all this? Well, I am Dr. Van Auken, and I have been the faculty advisor for the Social Concerns Committee since 2001. While I have been involved in helping the committee grow and develop many new events, this is without a doubt the highlight of the year for me. For the first several years I would get very anxious, because I was afraid that we would not have enough funding to meet our goals. But, over the past few years, I have discovered that I need not worry. I just put my faith in God and all the wonderful students, faculty, staff, parents of students, and HCC alumni, and every year things fall into place. I have never been disappointed. I believe that when there is a need, HCC will step up and help meet that need. I feel blessed and honored to work at a college that will provide me with the opportunity to be part of such wonderful tradition of giving.