November just started, and Admissions already started the holiday spirit. The Ambassadors are hosting the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless Adopt-a-Family event again this year.

“[Adopt-a-Family] is a philanthropic event for the community,” Ambassador Program Head Joel Schnierle said. “It’s something we take pride in doing for the community.”

It is a program that provides families in need with an opportunity to receive gifts and basic necessities through a sponsor. These families are picked through the Mesa County Workforce Center. Ambassadors team up with MCWC to provide sponsors for these families.

From now until Friday, requests to sponsor a family can be sent to the Ambassadors. The goal is to sponsor about 30 families, which requires about 30 different sponsors. Typically, the groups that sponsor are from different school clubs and groups, but there have been other types of sponsors. Sometimes a pod in one of the residence halls will adopt a family, or a student’s family will adopt one. Even an entire residence hall could make sponsoring a family possible.

“What makes this event special is that we do get very generous sponsors,” Schnierle said.

The sponsor chooses how large of a family they want to support and recieves a “wish list” from the family that is divided into different categories from food to items that the children want for Christmas. Some sponsors just provide money and there is not a set expectation for a sponsor. Admissions as a whole usually provides for a large family.

Ambassadors has hosted the charity for several years. They also believe that it is a great way to get into the holiday spirit and is beneficial to both those giving and receiving.

“Personally, it’s humbling,” Schnierle said. “It’s really awesome to see them so thankful.”

The gifts will actually be given to the families from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 2

On that day, families gather in the UC Ballroom, where a big “U” is set up with gifts spread out across tables. The Ambassadors and sponsors prepare the items and personally hand them to the families. Sometimes a family is not able to make it, in which case the ambassadors take the gifts to the family’s home. This year, they are hoping to provide activities for the children, including games and a Santa.

Students are asked to give what they can, whether that’s sponsoring a family with some friends or donating a toy or two. Anything is helpful and appreciated. If there is a person interested in sponsoring a family, contact Ambassador Joel Schnierle at jschnierle@mavs.coloradomesa.edu, or call Paige Cadman at 970-248-1875.

“One of [Ambassador’s] big things is making sure we do things for our community and school,” Schnierle said.