Julieta Cruz-Ambriz, a 21-year-old single mother and undergraduate at UC Irvine, anticipated a dismal holiday season to top off a tough year. In addition to her full academic load as a social ecology major and a part-time job to pay the bills, Cruz-Ambriz is raising her five-year-old daughter alone and caring for both her ill parents. The prospect of providing Christmas gifts and a celebration for the family was overwhelming.
This month, Cruz-Ambriz learned that she had been "adopted" by a campus department, and that her five-year-old daughter and 10-year-old brother would receive toys, clothes and even a holiday dinner.
"I feel extremely grateful to the department and the program," said Cruz-Ambriz, with a smile and sense of relief on her face. She received the gifts one week before Christmas.
Seventeen families were adopted by departments at UCI this year through the Verano Holiday Project, named for the campus apartments where students with families and foreign graduate students live. The program, now in its 14th year, is organized by UCI's Academic & Professional Women, which requests wish lists from needy students and matches them with departments on campus whose staff and faculty collectively provide the gifts.
While debt and tight budgets are a regular part of the experience for many college students, for some, the holidays are especially difficult. The Verano Holiday Project serves mostly single parents who, like Cruz-Ambriz, are providing the sole support for their families while trying to build a better life through education. Many also are dealing with serious health issues -- from a child with a heart condition to a parent with breast cancer.
The idea that issues at home have an academic impact is nothing new to Kimberly Ayala, director of the undergraduate/undeclared advising program, who started the project in direct response to one needy student.
"We were discussing courses for the coming quarter, and she told me she was more anxious about the holidays than her classes," she said. Ayala was already practiced at helping students in ways beyond her job description -- such as filling in as a last-resort baby sitter during final exams. She learned that this single mother wanted toys for her children, but then heard about another single parent who needed food for her three children.
"One of the little girls asked for bread and peanut butter for Christmas," Ayala said. "And another just wanted new shoes." Determined to help the students and their children, Ayala called on the goodwill of her colleagues in other offices and together they provide gifts for each of the several students who came forward that year.
Over the years, as the program grew, Ayala's office became inundated with toys, sports equipment, clothes and food during the holidays. So, in 1994, she passed the project to the A&PW. Each year more than a dozen students come forward -- often reluctantly -- to share their holiday wish list. And usually a greater number of departments offer help.
"We have people in need right here on campus -- in our own backyard," explained Ayala. "They're here trying to better themselves, and we can help."
Departments across campus are involved in many forms of charitable giving during the holidays. Among the other programs:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked public university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,400 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3 billion.
UCI maintains an online directory of faculty available as experts to the media. To access, visit www.today.uci.edu/experts.