All over the UMSL campus, faculty, students and staff are collecting food, school uniforms and holiday decorations for families in need. The annual Holiday Fest drive ends Monday, Dec. 5.

It’s that time of year again – celebrations of winter holidays filled with family and friends, memories and the exchange of good will and gifts. It’s also a time when the Office of Student Life and Students of Service at the University of Missouri–St. Louis look to the rest of the campus to help local families in need.

The annual Holiday Fest at UMSL means collecting hundreds of pounds of food for the Pagedale Family Support Center Food Center and school uniforms, and holiday decorations for families in the Normandy School District. And this year, UMSL is working with KTRS (550 AM) to make the holidays a little brighter for the people of Joplin, Mo. Holiday decorations will be collected for families who lost so much in the devastating tornado in May.

Members of the campus community are being asked to donate:

  • Non-perishable food and hygiene products
  • School uniforms or a monetary contribution to buy the uniforms
  • Holiday decorations (consider all religious and ethnic holidays)

Our donations to the Normandy community have helped ease the strain of financial hardship for many families during the holiday season,” said Kelcy Siddall, graduate student with the UMSL Students of Service program. “Last year, we literally had a truckload of food donations to give! I hope that this level of generosity continues to grow in the UMSL community for many years to come.”

All Holiday Fest contributions should be delivered to the Millennium Student Center through Dec. 5. Food baskets go to the Holiday Fest drop off in the Nosh, first floor of the MSC, and uniforms go to the Office of Student Life, 366 MSC.

For more information call Siddall at 314-516-5291 or e-mail UMSL student Ashley Latimore at ashley.lyte@gmail.com.

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Maureen Zegel

Maureen Zegel