A Time For Giving, a Time For Receiving

Atlanta's Holiday Gift Drive: Fruits from a Gifting Tree

Local businesses, faith based groups, volunteers, and government agencies have teamed up with IRC Atlanta's Resouce Coordinator Lauren Gold to make Atlanta's Holiday Gift Drive another tremendous success.

Roddie Pistilli a dedicated volunteer enlisted the help of Liz Bigler and the Unitarian Universalist  Church of Atlanta (UUCA) in a generous and creative approach to IRC's Holiday Drive. UUCA created a "Gifting Tree" that had one ornament for 49 refugee children that described refugee child's name, age, country of origin, and IRC caseworker.

The idea was that a member of the UUCA community would take an ornament and replace it with a children's gift. The first 49 ornaments "flew off" the tree! Then Roddie & Liz put up 49 more ornaments (same names) and of course, those flew off too! So, each child will receive two new gifts! Even Liz's children got into the act, delivering all those wrapped presents from UUCA to IRC.

Donation from Atlanta Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers 

Tally Briggs, an Atlanta Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and IRC Job Developer presents Clare S. Richie, Regional Director for Atlanta office with a check for $500 on behalf of the Atlanta Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.