By Ava Nicols
Sports Editor
Every year during the holidays, junior Ashna Patel partners with Dolores Huerta Elementary to donate to families in Lennox, California, a severely underserved area. This year, she was able to adopt 30 families along with the help from members of her local community.
“Although there are many other adopt-a-family projects that are run through other organizations, I independently run this one with Dolores Huerta Elementary,” said Patel. “I love doing this because I have gotten to know the counselor and school administration really well and made connections with many of the families and kids that go to the school.”
Patel not only has given back tremendously to those in need through money and gift donations, but has also learned skills from the administrative components of the project. According to Patel, coordinating all the donors and families has helped her become more organized and efficient.
“My elementary school ran this type of charity when I was in Kindergarten, but they stopped. My dad suggested this project as something for my family to do during the holidays but over the years I have taken on more and more responsibility within in,” said Patel. “By 7th grade, I was fully in charge of all the coordination, in addition to adopting my own families.”
In past years, adopting a family, buying presents, and delivering was the only option she offered. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Patel offered a money donation option and uses the money to buy gift cards to a local supermarket the families shop at. According to Patel, allowing people to contribute in any way possible allows for the furthest-reaching outcome.
“This year, about 15 families were adopted directly by my friends and family,” said Patel. “Instead of buying gift cards with the donated money I partnered with the local Beastie Gym and Cedric Jones’ BMoved Foundation to buy gifts at target, wrap, and deliver as a group.”
Patel works closely with Rachel Romero, the counselor at Dolores Huerta Elementary beginning in mid-November, and receives a list of families that are in need. Each family is then matched with a donor family to receive gifts for the holidays. According to Patel, Romero is extremely caring and passionate about the students and the community and a huge reason for the project’s success.
“This year I also partnered with Beastie and the BMoved foundation to adopt more families. The BMoved foundation is run by trainer Cedric Jones where he works with inner-city kids to provide education, fitness, and moral support. ” said Patel. “This was an awesome partnership because instead of just buying gift cards, I had the help to be able to buy the families gifts.”
When Patel and her family first started this project, her small network of family and friends could only support five families. Over the years, she has become more confident in reaching out to new people and marketing this project.
“One of my favorite things about doing this program directly with the school is getting to deliver the gifts personally and meet the family,” Patel said. “Oftentimes with big charity organizations, donating only goes as far as sending them money. I try hard to really involve the donors (even the ones that just send money) in the process so they can understand the impact they are having on the families lives.”
In the future, Patel plans to expand this project to be year-round. Last year, she held a spring cleaning drive where gently used items from the community were collected and donated to the school. Right now, Patel runs her project alone, so emailing or texting her would be the way to get involved.
“I am so proud that we have continued expanding, this year donating to the most families we ever have, 30. I am excited to see how this project will grow and expand in the future and hope to continue leading it in college and after, Patel said.” “This project is my biggest passion and I hope that I can continue to have a positive influence on the families and kids from Dolores Huerta Elementary.”
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