News

December 2009
The Spirit of Giving—HSAG Adopts a Classroom of Homeless Children for the Holidays

When HSAG unloaded its truckload of holiday gifts in December 2009 at Children First Academy of Phoenix, Emily Felix's sixth-grade class reacted as if they had won the lottery.

With wide eyes staring at the mountain of gifts stacked at the front of the class, the students—many of whom are homeless—shouted and cheered as Rick Potter, executive vice president and chief operating officer, and Taylor Dalton, contracts manager, Medicare operations, called each student forward to receive his or her present.

"It was amazing how excited the kids were," said Rick Potter. "Most of them couldn't wait to tear
open their gifts. Several students wanted to save their present so they'd have one to open on Christmas Day."

The majority of students attending Children First Academy are homeless. Some do not have parents, either, and are living in shelters.

"A lot of our parents don't have an income, so the kids don't really get new things," said Felix, who has been teaching at the school for two years. "Their parents can't afford it, or they would rather spend their money on something else, like food."

Many students stay in a new place every night. The one stable place they can go to every day is their school, where their class often becomes their family.

"They don't want to go home. They want to stay at school, or they ask if they can go home with one of the staff members," said Felix. "We try to create a family environment because a lot of times they don't know what a family is supposed to be."

In the past, HSAG's charitable giving during the holidays has involved donating gifts to a family through the Salvation Army. But this year, after the success of HSAG's Back-to-School Drive at Children First Academy, the company decided for the first time to provide holiday donations to the school. HSAG adopted Felix's class of more than 30 students.

Within 48 hours of e-mailing employees for contributions, HSAG raised more than $1,000. Members of the Social Activities Committee used the money to buy toys the students selected from a list. Committee members then organized a gift-wrapping session. On the day the gifts were delivered, the company bought pizzas, juice, and cookies for the class.

"This gives us a chance to spread our contributions across an entire classroom," said Taylor, chair of the Social Activities Committee, who toured the school before HSAG adopted the class for the holidays. "It just made us realize these kids were in need of some nice surprises."

By adopting the sixth-grade class, HSAG showed the children what it means to come together as a family to share the holiday spirit of giving, said Mary Bulian, medical review specialist, who helped deliver the gifts and donated teaching supplies to Felix.

"It seemed that they really reached out to us as a group," said Bulian. "As older kids, they realized that they didn't have to get things, and they were surprised that someone actually came through for them."

Felix said her class would benefit from contributions of time and resources from people year-round. To make a donation or volunteer in the classroom,
call (602) 712-0500.