12/18/2019
The holiday season brings countless toy drives. You can donate seemingly everywhere – doctors’ offices, government buildings, places of worship, malls, you name it.
I have always appreciated the donation boxes and the spirit of giving that accompanies the holidays; however, it can be overwhelming to know where to give, and limitless options can sometimes paralyze me.
A few months into my career at Sendero, the annual toy drive email came out. Something was different about this one, though. Sendero’s toy drive originated to raise support for an organization that one of our members, Christi Bellon, had been involved in for years – Community Partners of Dallas (CPD). Because of her personal involvement, this gave the toy drive a special touch and I looked forward to our holiday toy drive each year.
Sendero’s holiday service traditions have grown with the company since the start of our annual toy drive. As new employees join our team and bring forward their passions in the community, we have expanded the toy drive to include two additional organizations: Dallas CASA, an organization that advocates for children in foster care, and DePelchin’s Children Center, which advocates for children’s emotional and physical well-being in Houston. Employees have also shared and implemented ideas to serve together during the holiday season, such as volunteering at the National Guard Christmas Party, gift sorting at DePelchin’s Children Center, and wrapping donated gifts at Kids-U.
The exciting part is that as the number of opportunities to give back during the holidays has increased, we have seen the time it takes to fill all volunteer and donation spots decrease. The “Season of Giving” rings true at Sendero as employees have expressed and acted on an exponential desire to give back to the community.