By Alexis Young
Staff Writer
“This time of year, it is so easy to get caught up in all of the shopping and decorating of the holiday season. It is so easy to lose sight of the truth,” said Nicole Antonacci, an undeclared sophomore softball player.
Saturday, Dec. 10 marks the seventh annual Christmas gift-wrapping party hosted by the St. Bonaventure women’s softball team. The event takes place at 10 a.m. in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts Loft.
The event benefits children in orphanages across the world. This year, packages will be sent to Doma Rebyonka, a Russian orphanage, the Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo through the Brian Moore P.U.N.T. Foundation. The team is waiting to hear if the Appalachian Children’s Home is in need of gifts this year.
The team decided to donate to Doma Rebyonka this year to support one of their own.
“Our newest recruit for the softball team was adopted from there as a child,” said Haley Majot, a junior biology major on the softball team. “We would like to help her hometown orphanage out by sending some Christmas gifts to the children who were not lucky enough to get adopted yet. The Appalachian Children’s Home, although we are still awaiting a response from them, has I think 56 or so children under their care and we want to make sure every child gets a Christmas gift this year, which is why we need to make as many gifts as possible.”
In the past, gifts have been sent to orphanages in Africa, India and Mexico. Last year, 70 donations were received, and the softball team hopes to increase this number by inviting students and organizations outside the athletic department to participate.
“Last year, we had soccer, basketball, swimming and diving, lacrosse and other fellow athletes come and help out, so we hope that even more athletes will come and join us this time around,” said Majot. “I realized last year we did not have as much of the student body as we would have liked to see, so this year, the team and I are making it our mission to get as many students, professors, workers and anyone else to come down and help out.”
Kelly Farrell, a senior sports studies major has seen the event grow over the past four years.
“My freshman year, it started out just our team and has expanded to other women’s teams as well, which means we are able to send more gifts to more children in need and to more than one specific location,” said Farrell. “I hope this tradition keeps growing as the years go by.”
If interested in donating, but unable to attend the event on Saturday, there will be a donation box setup outside the ticket office in the Reilly Center. The gifts will be going to children anywhere from two to 14 years of age. Clothes, toys, hard candy, school supplies and personal hygiene items are some suggestions to donate.
“I want everyone to know that this isn’t a thing that just the sports teams should help out with and it isn’t a thing that just the student body should help out with either,” said Majot. “This is something that we as Bonnies should do; student, athlete, professor, worker, fan, it does not matter. Everyone is welcome to come down and contribute to this event. Everyone deserves a merry Christmas and we want to make that happen.”
youngam13@bonaventure.edu
