There are many traditions that signify the holiday season. For some, it’s sharing meals with family and loved ones. For others, it may be the annual ugliest sweater competition or attending the Festival of Lights in their local city. No matter which way people choose to celebrate, for most, the winter season is a time for creating new memories and giving back to others. For Karen Arriaga, an Executive Assistant for the Office of Community Engagement and Government Affairs, it was an opportunity to spread love and hope to those who are often forgotten during the holidays.
“Growing up, my mom and dad along with my grandmother would put together fruit baskets during the holidays and distribute them to local convalescent homes in the Los Angeles area. I remember the conversations as a little girl that most of the residents in these homes get forgotten or don’t have family, so this was one way my parents felt they can be there for those who don’t have anyone or anything during the holiday season,” she said.
When their office started to brainstorm what KPSOM could do for the community and how to get the entire school involved, Arriaga’s childhood experience inspired a move to launch a holiday sock drive, and to put together those same fruit baskets her family used to create, to give back to those in her community.
In a schoolwide effort coordinated through the Office of Community Engagement and Government Affairs, KPSOM collected 840 pairs of socks, and packed and decorated 100 gift baskets that included socks, fruit, holiday cards, and candy canes to gift to the patients of Foothill Heights Nursing Center in Pasadena. A team within the Clinical Science Department also created 20 soft food gift baskets for patients who needed them.
