Maybe it's just because it's that time of the year, but UNM is in a giving mood.
The UNM Giving Tree in the SUB Atrium has been such a hit that organizers have added an additional 74 foster children to their original list of about 120 in need of gifts and basic items this holiday season.
ASUNM's executive agency, Community Experience, organized the gift drive in conjunction with SUB staff members.
The drive will benefit children from 16 of New Mexico's 33 counties.
Members of the Community Experience say they have been touched by the outpouring of generosity by everyone who has helped with the Giving Tree.
"The minute the tree was up, we had presents a day later," said Community Experience Assistant Director Tom Schawel.
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The Giving Tree features paper ornaments imprinted with the age and sex of children, as well as what they want for the holidays.
Community Experience members erected the tree on Monday. Three days later, Schawel said, all the children's requests had been picked up.
"I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that all the ornaments were gone," Schawel said.
Ages of the foster children range from five months to 19 years.
The gift-giving program began on Monday and will wrap-up on Dec. 19.
Members of the Community Experience are in the process of creating the additional 74 ornaments and putting them on the tree.
"I think that it's wonderful that the UNM students, faculty and staff can take the time, especially at the end of the semester, to help these children," Schawel said.
Saraswati Khalsa, project chairwoman for the Community Experience, said the success of the Giving Tree has been an all-out effort on the part of her agency, the SUB staff and the University community.
"We couldn't do it at all if the students and the others didn't come and get gifts for the children," she said.
New Mexico Friends of Foster Children, created to help meet the needs of foster children who are not funded by the state or other programs, is working with Community Experience and the SUB to organize what each child wants and distribute the gifts in time for the holidays.
Schawel said the work behind the Giving Tree started when Community Experience contacted the foundation to ask for a list of needy children.
Schawel said organizers from the foundation were more than willing to assist.
The gift drive is this month's event planned by the Community Experience. Last month, its members organized a food drive.
