HIGH POINT, N.C., Dec. 11, 2015 – The High Point University family gives back in countless ways throughout the year, and their spirit of giving is amplified during the holiday season. HPU students, faculty and staff gave back to the community more than ever before this Christmas.
In total, HPU touched more than 22,000 lives while contributing $37,000 in Christmas gifts.
- High Point University’s fifth annual Community Christmas welcomed more than 20,000 members of the community to campus. Attendees enjoyed a life-size Nativity scene, falling snow, Clydesdale carriage rides, hot food and Santa Claus.
“The purpose of the season is the birth of Jesus Christ,” said Dr. Nido Qubein, HPU president. “That’s why we have a Nativity scene and that’s why we sing and give God the glory for all the blessings in our lives. We are delighted to bring thousands of families together to fellowship.”
- The HPU Board of Stewards gave gifts to 100 children in the Triad. Every year, 100 percent of the fall semester offering from HPU Chapel services goes to the Salvations Army’s Angel Tree program. This year they received $10,000.
“Being able to go out and get gifts for these children makes me feel like my Christmas has already come,” said HPU student and Board of Stewards member Aria Reel. “Being a part of someone’s life, even if it is indirectly, is a beautiful thing especially this time of year.”
- The HPU community has embraced the Salvation Army’s Stuff a Stocking Campaign again this year by filling 1,000 stockings. HPU’s gift of 1,000 filled more than 70 percent of the Salvation Army’s 1,400 stocking goal. Those stockings will be distributed to children in the community as a way to brighten their Christmas morning.
“Our HPU students initiate so many giving projects,” said Gail Tuttle, senior vice president for the Office of Student Life. “They embrace the opportunity and values of service and gratitude. We are so proud of our students, faculty and staff for recognizing the needs of the local community and children who may not enjoy Christmas without this program.”
- The Nido R. Qubein School of Communication bought gifts for seven families from the Hattie Lee Burgess home, a safe haven for domestic violence shelters. These gifts included footballs, bikes, remote control planes, teddy bears, basketballs, gift cards, household necessities and more.
- With their dancing shoes on and huge grins on their faces, individuals with disabilities from the community enjoyed a Holiday Dance at the Morehead Recreation Center on Dec. 8 organized by HPU’s Student Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
Dancing, crafts and food were just a few things that the group enjoyed along with High Point Parks and Recreation and Wheatmore High School students, who co-hosted the event with HPU. Each participant with disabilities also took home a blanket and hand-crafted ornament from the event.
- HPU students donated over 250 pounds of food to the Out of the Garden project to nourish people in the community.
“This food is needed, especially in the city of High Point right now,” said Nikki Christakos, operations manager for Out of the Garden. “With the holidays here, we have seen a surge of people coming to see us, so the donation from HPU will be very beneficial to us. We are so appreciative of High Point University’s efforts and are grateful for the donation.”
- HPU’s Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and the HPU community made Christmas cards for children at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Medical Center in hopes of making their holidays brighter.
- Students enrolled in Dr. Sadie Leder Elder’s Introduction to Psychology class participated in a class activity with a big impact. Through the course’s “Helping Behavior Activity,” the students assembled gift bags filled with toys for students in need at Parkview Elementary School.
- HPU’s Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity hosted a Christmas party for more than 100 children in the Boys and Girls Club at West End Ministries on Dec. 8.
- HPU’s Impact Club, a Christian service organization, hosted the event Impact Christmas for members of the community at the Carl Chavis YMCA on Dec. 5.
At the event, the HPU students sold Christmas gifts to more than 60 members of the community at a discounted price so parents had the opportunity to pick out gifts for their children.
“The power of Impact Christmas is that it gives Christmas to both parents and children,” said Dr. Joe Blosser, Robert G. Culp Jr. director of service learning. “It doesn’t deprive parents of the experience of paying for, picking out and wrapping up their own children’s gifts. The parents who came to this event were made proud that they could give Christmas to their children this year.”