Students have been taking lights from the WTAMU Social Work Club’s Christmas tree. The tree, once filled with different colors of paper lights or tags, now stands almost naked and bare on the second floor of Old Main.
“People take a tag and give a gift,” Dr. Melody Loya, assistant professor of Social Work and advisor of the Social Work Club, said.
The Lighting of Lives is a charity project organized every year by members of the Social Work Club. Until Dec. 1, anybody from the local community can take a tag from the tree and buy the gifts listed on the tag. Those gifts will then be given to Dr. Loya and donated to the individual whose name resides on the tag.“We have 250 tags on the tree,” Nancy Zamora, president of the Social Work Club, said. “We have never, not been able to provide gifts for everybody on the tree.”
While a lot of local charities concentrate on children and families who are less fortunate, members of the Social Work Club decided to focus their charity project on a lesser-known population of the mentally disabled and elderly.
“There are lots of other programs that serve families, but there aren’t any programs that serve this population.” Dr. Loya said.
The individuals who will be receiving these tagged gifts are clients of the Department of Aging and Disability Services. Some are young people with developmental disabilities who have aged out of the foster care system and now find themselves in the care of the state. Other clients are orphaned elderly who are older chronologically, but have the mental capacity of a four-year old.
“Christmas is still a big deal for them,” Marisela Teran, a junior Social Work major, said. “They still expect a visit from Santa Clause.”
Unlike other club projects that have tendency to fade away after a few semesters, the Lighting of Lives has been going strong for 19 years. The WT community has been a major factor in its success.
“The WT community has been fabulous over the years,” Dr. Loya said. “We have met the needs of every client every year.”
The number of gifts donated has increased every year, but despite the charity’s success, recent economic activities have caused some people to hesitate giving to charities.
