Counting the ways to give
A staff member sorts toys into groups by age and gender of potential recipients, for the annual Staff Advisory Council Toy Drive. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
There is no shortage of ways to give back to the community during the holiday season, but there are a few options that are near and dear to the Tulane University community.
Tunes for Toys
During the inaugural Tunes for Toys event sponsored by the School of Liberal Arts and the Gia Maione Prima Foundation in 2014, the free concert and toy donation drive featuring a performance by Trombone Shorty exceeded the expectation of planners. Guests were asked to bring one unwrapped toy in exchange for admission.
“We received so many more toys than we anticipated,” says program coordinator Tinese Connell of the more than 400 gifts collected last year. “We were actually unprepared with a place to store that many items.”
For this year"s concert, Connell says they are ready.
Tunes for Toys 2015 takes place Tuesday (Dec. 1) at 8 p.m. in McAlister Auditorium. Toys collected at the concert will be distributed on Monday (Dec. 21) during the second annual Toys from Troy event to be held at the Whole Foods Market on Broad Street from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Staff Advisory Council Toy Drive
Donations of new, unwrapped toys are being accepted through Dec. 4 for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) toy drive hosted by the Tulane Staff Advisory Council. A list of drop-off locations is available here.
Cops for Coats
If you"re a late shopper or in the midst of a pre-holiday closet clean-out, the Cops for Coats drive hosted by the Tulane University Police Department is accepting children"s winter wear through Dec. 21. The department is asking for donations of new or gently used child-sized coats, hats, gloves and scarves. Collection barrels are stationed at the School of Medicine, 1430 Tulane Ave.; in the Diboll Complex, 6823 St. Charles Ave.; and at the Tulane National Primate Research Center, 18703 Three Rivers Rd., Covington, Louisiana.
