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December 16, 2022Capital Region BOCES Students Brighten the Holidays for Those in the Schenectady City Mission
Capital Region BOCES students played the part of Santa’s elves this week, delivering a sleigh overflowing with toys to The City Mission in Schenectady.
The students—members of the SkillsUSA chapter on the Albany campus—collected toys in a full-sized sleigh on the Albany Campus since Thanksgiving. They also collected more than $1,700 in monetary donations – including a $250 donation from the BOCES Faculty Association and a $150 donation from the Carpentry Services program from the sale of holiday crafts – as well as the proceeds of the sale of coffee at the Campus Store.
Students in the Retail and Office Services Program and their counterparts in the Work-Based Learning program used the funds to purchase more toys and games for the youth of the City Mission.
Adding to the toys they purchased and those donated by students was the family of Digital Media Design student Deegan Donivan, who donated $350.00 worth of toys.
“While SkillsUSA sponsors the drive, it is truly a campus–wide, BOCES-wide project,” said SkillsUSA Advisor Debra Toy, noting that classes from Criminal Justice to Carpentry Services volunteered in various ways to assist the charitable activities.
On Wednesday, six students accompanied the toy donation to City Mission and volunteered their time at the mission.
“It was fun. We helped families pick out toys. It made me feel good,” said Emily Tice, a Culinary Arts senior and member of the SkillsUSA organization.
The Schenectady City Mission’s toy store assists hundreds of families each holiday season and BOCES students aided the effort not only by bringing in hundreds of games and toys, but by helping to sort and organize the toys at the mission.
SkillsUSA is a national organization for career and technical education students that promotes personal and professional growth and offers them the opportunity to compete at the local, regional, state and national levels. Capital Region BOCES’ has chapters on all three of its campuses, providing opportunities for its more than 1,200 students to take part in the national organization while also learning in one of the more than two-dozen academic programs, ranging from engineering to automotive to nursing, offered to students.
