UCSC sees successful Star of Hope Holiday Donation Drive

This year the University Classified Staff Council (UCSC) partnered with The Star of Hope to collect donations as part of their holiday drive. The Star of Hope assists approximately 1,000 individuals per day, and their mission is to provide a comprehensive approach to addressing the diverse issues, both immediate and long term, that impact individuals and families experiencing homelessness. UCSC hoped to assist the Star of Hope with their mission by collecting various items in time for a holiday delivery. We are happy to report that the classified staff members of UTHealth Houston did not disappoint!

The Star of Hope Donation Drive ran from December 1, 2021 – December 16, 2021. Given the high volume of donations, the Star of Hope had to send one of their box vans to UTHealth on December 21, 2021! Volunteers spent approximately an hour moving items from the storage facility to the pickup location. In total, it took five cars and over 10 volunteers to move all the donated items from the UCSC storage unit to the loading dock located at University Center Tower. 

Lexie Bradford, UCSC chair, commented on the success of the event: “It was a privilege and honor to host a donation drive for the Star of Hope. Council members and other classified staff came together this holiday season to focus on giving back to our local community and truly went above and beyond with its level of generosity this year, such that we collected so many items that our storage unit was completely filled with donations. The UCSC united for an amazing cause and we were glad to provide donations especially during these challenging times. I want to say thank you to everyone that donated and contributed to the success of the event!”

Some of the items that UCSC was able to collect as a part of the donation drive were board games, clothes, shoes, books, dental and other hygiene items, food, bed linens, disposable plates and more! So many classified staff members at UTHealth Houston helped make this a successful event. 

There is heightened visibility on the need for such donations these days, especially during the holiday season. UCSC was proud to partner with the greater university community to make this event possible. 

Lauren Smith, assistant director of development, notes that “As a UTHealth employee, it brought great joy to give to The Star of Hope this holiday season. Every human and family deserves to be treated with the utmost dignity, respect, and with compassionate care despite their economic situation. The Star of Hope is an organization that does just that and lifts others up when they may be at their most vulnerable. In helping to provide these amazing families with the resources they need, such as clothing, household items, basic needs items, etc. it allows us to be an extension of their family as a community and ultimately lifts us all up in a collective sense along the way”

Your UCSC thanks you for your support and for being a great community member.