Pandemic fails to dampen UB’s spirit of giving

Has Santa set up his workshop in Bissell Hall?

Well, kind of. Santa’s elves at University Police have filled the building’s conference room with gifts gathered for a local veteran family adopted through WNY Heroes Inc.

“The outpouring of support from our department has been overwhelming, especially during this year,” says UPD Officer Shannon Sweeney, who is coordinating the effort with Officer Alexandra Ince and Investigator Wayne Colton. “It just shows that no matter how bad things can get, we can still come together and make a beautiful Christmas for a deserving military family.”

COVID-19 has pushed many holiday traditions to the wayside this year, but the pandemic hasn’t put a damper on the giving spirit of the UB community. As in past years, faculty and staff across the university are stepping up to help those in need this holiday season.

Elsewhere on campus, UB’s annual Adopt a Family program is in full swing — with a few COVID-induced twists.

There won’t be the usual gift-gathering reception in Allen Hall to limit contact and avoid bringing people to campus. The Office of Government and Community Relations, which coordinates the university-wide initiative that matches UB departments with local families in need, is working with community partners and organizations to get the gifts to the families.

And about half of the units participating, among them the School of Law and the Professional Staff Senate, are providing digital gift cards for the families instead of physical gifts.

In fact, participation in a digital drive via Venmo was so great at the law school that the school was able to sponsor an additional family, notes Dylan Steed, community relations specialist.

Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, Community Relations staff say there’s been a tremendous response from university departments.

“Every year we are awed by the generosity of our UB departments and offices who participate in the Adopt a Family program,” says Tess Morrissey, director of community relations. “This year was one where the need could not be greater for our families, as many have been personally impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

“Despite the changes made to the program — sometimes at the last minute — to accommodate the changing public health guidelines, each department has gone above and beyond to assist their families,” Morrissey says. “We are so grateful for their participation in this challenging year.”

The challenges local families are facing due to the pandemic make Adopt a Family more critical than ever, participants say.

“This year more than ever, our ‘adopted’ families are in need of some extra holiday cheer,” says Caitlin Hoekstra, assistant director of experiential learning in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It has been amazing to see the outpouring of gifts and donations from co-workers,” she says. “We even raised enough money to purchase a washer and dryer as a surprise for a single mom and her 11-year-old son.”

Sara Goodman, incubation program manager for Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships, says it was never an option for her department, as well as client companies from the Incubator @ Baird, not to participate in the Adopt-A-Family program this year.

“We had to shift from putting tags on a tree for people to take, to sharing a wish list of items via a Google sheet,” Goodman says. “People graciously signed up for items, and we coordinated them being dropped/shipped to the incubator or my home.

“This is one of my favorite things to participate in all year,” she says, “as it shows the true kindness and generosity of humanity. I am proud and privileged to work with such wonderful people that pulled together, even while being apart, to provide some joy and holiday cheer to families who really need it.” 

Those sentiments are shared by the UPD officers who organized their department’s adoption of a military family.

“I feel honored to be able to help with this program this year,” says Ince. “It is very fulfilling personally to be able to help a military family.

“I’m also very grateful for all the officers that donated money and gifts to this wonderful cause. It’s so great when everyone can come together and work toward a common goal to help others.”

Adds Colton: “It is an honor and a privilege to be able to give something back to the men and women of our armed services, who in many cases have sacrificed everything for us.”

A yearly event since 2013, the UPD initiative — which is independent of Community Relations’ Adopt a Family program — is a joint venture between UPD management and the officer’s union, the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, says Deputy Chief Joshua B. Sticht. “We have a fair number of department members who are also U.S. military veterans, so we as a department felt a special connection to the veterans group,” Sticht says.

But this year’s response has been greater than in past years, he says, noting that donations came from every part of the department, including dispatchers, officers, lieutenants, investigators, chiefs, support staff and even retirees.

“The response this year has been pretty fantastic,” Sticht says. “We see the bigger need with the financial impact of the pandemic.”

Steed agrees the need in the community is greater this year, and the UB community has stepped up to help meet that need through Adopt a Family. “We’ve had a really great response from university departments, and are rolling with the punches to make sure the holidays are a little brighter for about 20 families in Buffalo.”

Units participating this year in Adopt a Family are Student Health Services; Honors College; Business Services; UB Production Group; School of Law; Department of Geology; Administration and Planning, Student Life; Tech Transfer; International Education, Graduate Medical Education, Clinical and Translational Research Center; Community Relations; Office of the President; College of Arts and Sciences; Office of Accreditation, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Department of Physiology and Biophysics; School of Dental Medicine; Arts Management Program; Office of Student Engagement; Business and Entrepreneurship Partnerships; Environment, Health and Safety; Department of Biological Sciences; Office of the Vice President for Finance & Administration; and UBIT Customer Service.