The season of giving is coming, and COD Cares is getting into the spirit with its annual “Gift of Giving” events. 

COD Community Engagement Coordinator and Manager of COD Cares, Joan DiPiero, believes in the culture of caring on the DuPage college campus, she said. 

“We care for each other, and we care for our community; we care for the environment.” DiPiero said. “
So we do a lot of different projects that help our community. Our big project in the fall is a “Gift of Giving,” and that runs from Nov. 1 through Dec. 10. Around the same time every year.”

COD Cares is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving our environment on campus and DuPage County through service projects and community partnerships. They support local non-profit charity agencies by making donations and completing volunteer projects. Thanks to COD’s Governance Council, a group to discuss our campus’s policies, procedures, and culture, COD Cares has been able to share resources, host donation drives and do projects for more than 11 years. 

All students and faculty members are encouraged to participate in and attend any “Gift of Giving” events. All events are posted with their location, time, and date on the COD Cares website. Some of these events include a blood drive on Nov.18 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in SRC 2000,  “Get to Gnome Your Neighbor” event to celebrate international games day on Thursday, Nov. 20 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the SRC atrium, and more.

On Dec. 10 and 11, volunteers will go from campus to deliver the donations to the local organizations the college is supporting. Donations could include anything from clothing to toys. These donations can be dropped off at boxes located across campus or SRC 2000 by Dec. 10.

DiPiero said she is excited to work with different agencies this year to spread the holiday spirit. 

“We have 18 agencies that will be getting donated gifts from COD this year. And when I think about how many lives it’s going to impact, and it was all of COD that helped, that’s really cool.” Dipiero said.“[Delivery day is] the most exciting day for me, and for the rest of our team.”

COD Cares encourages people to show up at SRC 2000 on Dec. 10 between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., delivery day. There, people participate in more service projects to help the COD campus while celebrating the end of this year’s “Gift of Giving” events and the COD community’s hard work by sharing hot chocolate and cookies.

DiPiero said the key aspect during the “Gift of Giving” is asking what the agencies need. She believes COD Cares cannot tell them what they need, so they ask. COD Cares sends all the agencies they support a wishlist for them to fill out. So when the time comes to send out the gift, every agency gets what they asked for and what COD Cares can give, she said.

Even though the “Gift of Giving” has just started, COD Cares has already made big impacts in the local community. On Nov. 10, students and faculty members made over 200 sack lunches to give to DuPage Pads, an organization that provides food and shelter to the homeless in DuPage County..

DiPiero has faith in the impact COD Cares and the “Gift of Giving” events have on the COD community. She encourages everyone to participate in these events, not only to give back to the community but to experience the feeling that comes with giving.

“I am the luckiest person in the world, and I have a job that I absolutely love,” DiPiero said.”It’s so much fun, and I get everybody else involved because it’s really, people want to feel good, you know, they want to give. Sometimes you don’t know how to give or if it’s going to make a difference, and it does. The smallest effort makes a big difference.”

To learn more about COD Cares and upcoming “Gift of Giving” events, visit their website.