Dear Tulane Community:
With large family gatherings and other traditions being discouraged due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, many are looking for ways to make this season more meaningful. The one thing that has not been curtailed in this year of unprecedented change and disruption is the hope and expectation of children. This gives all of us an opportunity to make this holiday a memorable one.
By participating in the Staff Advisory Council's annual toy drive you can bring joy to a young person being assisted by the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children, a national organization that serves abused and neglected youth in the foster care system. Online donations will be accepted through midnight today, Dec.1, but toys and gifts may be dropped off at any donation location on the uptown or downtown campuses or at the primate center through Friday, Dec. 4. In more than a decade-long partnership with the CASA branches in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes, the Tulane community has given thousands of gifts to deserving children. With the upheaval and challenges brought on by COVID-19, the need is even greater this year.
We are a university known nationally and globally for research and scholarship that improves and transforms lives. A toy can help transform a life, too, simply by the joy it gives and the love it represents. A toy can transform the giver, too. I hope you can join this special effort that builds on the commitment we have to our community and to the positive change that is at the heart of the Tulane experience.
