Alumni and Friends Making an Impact

During a year when we were all forced to be apart, UD alumni communities still found ways to bring Christmas off Campus magic to their communities.

For years, the Columbus Alumni Community has held an event similar to Christmas on Campus.

“It’s a tradition that many of the participating children have grown up with,” said Megan Kelly ’98, a Columbus Alumni Community member. “No one wanted to see it end, and for us there was a never a question of if it would happen. It was simply a question of how. And it really needed to happen … for everyone.”

Kelly said she thought there was pent-up demand to help, and fellow alumni proved her right. Not only did each child receive a present at the drive-thru event, the families each received a full meal and care packages, and the children took home crafts, school supplies and goody bags.

“UD alumni are exceedingly generous, and they were looking for ways to pay it forward and spread joy,” said Kelly.

In Austin, Texas, alumni worked through Kevin ’02 and Jen Goetz to provide care packages for families with infants in a neonatal intensive care unit. Kevin is the Austin Community leader and Jen said she has been adopted as an honorary member of the alumni group. She’s also a neonatologist, so she knows the struggle these families experience.

“We knew we couldn’t have an in-person event, so we were trying to find something that individuals or families could do together while helping the community,” said Kevin.

Jen knew about Hand to Hold, a local nonprofit organization founded to help families with babies in the NICU. “We put together special Christmas stockings filled with care package items to support them through the holidays,” said Jen. “So, it combined both of our worlds.”

Around the country, alumni communities met the challenge of creating new events or transforming existing ones for the year’s unique needs. True to UD alumni form, many of the events were bigger than ever.

The alumni response in Columbus was so generous that now they’re looking for a school to partner with to outfit the entire class with supplies for the coming year.

“We would ask for 12 pencils and we’d receive 12 cases,” said Kelly. “That’s the way UD alumni respond.”