Student groups 'adopt' needy children

A small room on the third floor of the Indiana Memorial Union was full of busy students this week. Scissors, tape and wrapping paper were strewn about a table. Colorful packages were stacked against the walls.\nMore than 50 campus organizations have been working to make the holidays brighter for about 90 Bloomington-area underprivileged children.\nCoordinated by the Volunteer Student Bureau, these organizations and individuals have "adopted" children -- purchasing, wrapping and delivering wanted and needed gifts, said senior Erin Keneally, Volunteer Student Bureau president.\nThe group's efforts culminated when volunteers gathered Wednesday and Thursday to pack and wrap the gifts.\nGifts are primarily for the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington, Keneally said. They will also be distributed to Child Protective Services and children of students in on-campus housing, Keneally said.\nKeneally said the diversity of the campus groups participating -- from fraternities and sororities to the Tai Chi Chu'an club -- is an important aspect of the project.\n"One of the main goals is, through service, to create a bond between student organizations," Keneally said.\nStudents had a variety of reasons for helping. \n"It's a break from pressure for finals, plus it's a good cause," freshman Stephanie Peters said.\nFreshman Sam Lawrence said he learned about the service opportunity from an e-mail and thought it sounded like a good cause.\n"I wanted to do something for the holidays," he said.\nKeneally said she's always been impressed by how much campus organizations focus on community service, and organizing the project was natural for her.\n"I felt very fortunate in my childhood, so it comes naturally to provide for needy children, especially during the holidays and the cold," Keneally said.\nPurchasing and wrapping gifts were not the only ways students supported the project. Many also donated gifts and donated cash to sponsor a child. For instance, Keneally said, the IU Student Association matched individual donations up to $100.\nMore than $500 has been raised through donations. Volunteer Student Bureau suggested a donation between $10 and $30 for each child sponsored. Thursday, volunteers shopped for gifts for those children, Keneally said.\nJoe Walterman, a graduate student, sponsored a child with a donation.\n"I thought the least I could do is sponsor a child -- they're not asking for much money," Walterman said. "It's two Burger King meals."\nThis is the first year for an organized, campus-wide effort to participate, said Bobbie Brooks-Steinhauer, Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington unit director.\nAbout 130 moderate to high-need children participate in Boys and Girls Club activities after school each day, Brooks-Steinhauer said.\nEvery year, the club asks community organizations to sponsor about 200 children. This year the campus group is sponsoring about 60, Brooks-Steinhauer said.\n"Once a year, we have an opportunity to go out into the community and get to see these kids get something, so they know that someone in the community cares," she said.\nBrooks-Steinhauer, who has worked for the club for four years, said some children lack necessities like coats and boots. But things that they want are just as important, she said.\nKeneally said the key is providing both. One particular child will get a winter coat -- and Pokemon Monopoly game, candy and card games, she said.\nMany children will also get gift certificates, Keneally said, and a Boys and Girls Club representative will shop with the children. Volunteers have been invited to a party, which will include Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas activities. This is when they will give their gifts to the children, Brooks-Steinhauer said.\n"There are years we get a little nervous," she said, "but I have never been here in a year when kids haven't all been sponsored"