Christmas Generosity Project: Build a Basket Day

Christmas Generosity Project: Build a Basket Day

Every year in December, Hawthorn School collaborates with the Missionaries of Charity here in Toronto. The Order of the Missionaries of Charity cares for the blind, the elderly, the dying, refugees, and all those in need in the poorest communities of the city.

We partner with the Missionaries of Charity at Christmas in providing support for current families in need. This year, the Missionaries asked if we could help eight families in need of a Christmas gift.

This Christmas, we have decided to build community and involvement with our students in creating Christmas Hampers filled with essential pantry food items, small craft items and gift cards that the families can use to make their Christmas meal and season special.

Blue hamper with handmade Christmas card, snacks, blanket, toothbrushes and board game from Hawthorn School for Girls

In mid-November, we sent out the call to all members of our Hawthorn community to please send gift cards in denominations of $25 for stores like Walmart, President’s Choice, or other easily accessible locations where recipients can find anything they could need (clothes, shoes, food, toys, electronics, household items, etc). Starting November 22nd and until December 11th, gift cards were ordered through the Hawthorn Gift Card program. Students received house points for every gift card contributed. We were absolutely thrilled with the positive, heartfelt response that we received! 

Led by Tubman House, our students used some of the gift cards to buy much-needed presents for our eight families. We assembled gift baskets together on Monday, December 16th in the afternoon in a House activity involving big sisters and little sisters called “Christmas Generosity Project: Build a Basket Day”. All the students gathered in the atrium, which was full of non-perishable food, toothbrushes, blankets, and games purchased with the gift cards donated by our Hawthorn community. The hampers were personalized according to the family and the number and ages of the children. One basket was for a homeless man so he received a bag and a warm jacket.

Black gym bag with blanket, handmade Christmas card, cookies and other gifts from Hawthorn School for Girls

Families with children received a game in addition to food and toiletries, etc. Each house was given a list of items to be placed in a basket for a family, as well as extra gift cards for each family. Each house prepared two baskets and made a Christmas card with the names of each family member for those families. Tubman House also put up a thermometer, and when a basket was complete the thermometer would go up, and the basket would be placed under the Christmas tree. 

Two Upper School students personally delivered the hampers to the Missionaries of Charity on December 18th, who will distribute the gifts to each of the families by Christmas Day.

Two Hawthorn School for Girls students in front of the Sisters of Charity home after having delivered hampers of gifts for families in need

Thank you so much to Mrs. Saishio and Madame Cayetano for supporting Tubman House in leading the Christmas Generosity Project. And thank you to our wonderful Hawthorn community for your generosity and your help in sharing the joy of Christmas with these residents of Toronto. Participating in actions of kindness such as this knits us more closely together in a common goal, and helps to spread the spirit of giving that lives at the heart of Christmas.