AUSTIN, Texas—Students, faculty and staff from The University of Texas at Austin will gather on the West Mall steps of the Main Building at noon on Dec. 8 to celebrate Songs of the Season, a holiday sing-along that will feature an appearance by Orange Santa.
Songs of the Season features combined choral organizations from the School of Music under the direction of Dr. James M. Morrow.
The annual program concludes the Orange Santa donation drive for 2006. In final preparation for the Holiday Store, Orange Santa and many helpers will be present to accept donations and fill a replica of the UT Tower with toys.
The Orange Santa program was begun in 1994 to foster a more caring campus environment by providing help for members of the university community who have special needs during the holiday season. In December 2005, Orange Santa served 371 families, including 1,379 children.
The program’s Orange Santa Holiday Store provides an opportunity for participating families to “shop” for gifts and toys for children in their immediate family. The store is stocked with items contributed through a campus-wide donation drive as well as items collected at special events.
New, unwrapped toys or gifts in original packaging, gift certificates and wrapping supplies will be collected at campus guard stations on the main campus and at Pickle Research Campus through Dec. 8.
The donated gifts this year will be distributed to employee and student families from the university community with special needs during the holiday season. Participants who shop at the Holiday Store complete an application process coordinated by Human Resource Services and in cooperation with the Austin Christmas Bureau.
The University Co-op and the University Federal Credit Union provide financial support to the program.
More information about the Orange Santa program is available online.
For more information contact: Robert D. Meckel, administrative communications, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847.
