Skip to main content

Many Thanks to All Who Helped Make the Season Brighter

Dear Penn Community,

Thank you so very much for all of your contributions to benefit our surrounding community. There are no words to adequately describe your generosity during the holiday season.  Many continue to benefit from your  willingness to give.  Here are examples of the various efforts:

Thank you to President Amy Gutmann for hosting her Annual Holiday Party where over 300 toys and gifts were donated. These toys along with many others were donated to Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s Annual Holiday Party for the Homeless.

Thank you to the following departments; they brought joy to families during the holidays by “adopting” them*:

Career Services, coordinated by Jamie Grant
Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Nicotine Addiction, coordinated by Zoe Rosoff-Verbit
College Housing and Academic Services, coordinated by Nancy McCue
Contact Center and Concierge Reception, Student Financial Services, coordinated by Yvonne Giorgio
Critical Writing Program, coordinated by Valerie Ross
Division of HIV Prevention Research, Perelman School of Medicine, coordinated by Chelsea Voytek
General Counsel, coordinated by Helen Logan
Graduate Education Admission and Financial Aid, coordinated by LaToya Floyd
Karima Reuter and Family, coordinated by Karima Reuter
Netter Center for Community Partnerships, coordinated by Yetunde Pinckney
Office of the Comptroller, coordinated by Celestine Silverman
Office of Gift Planning, coordinated by Lorleen Finor-Maxwell
Office of the Provost, coordinated by Laura Balin
Penn Center for Innovation, coordinated by Kara Swift Collins
Penn Fund, coordinated by Joshua Nay
Penn Vector Core, coordinated by Amy Onorato
Research Services, coordinated by Lauren Oshana
School of Arts & Sciences Graduate Division, coordinated by Judith Reed Tjiattas
Training and Development, HR, coordinated by Holly Marrone
Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, coordinated by Barbara Bernhardt
University Communications, coordinated by Lauren Summers
University of Pennsylvania Libraries, coordinated by Jeanne Shuttleworth
Wharton Fund, coordinated by Monty Harris
Wharton Finance and Administration, coordinated by Linda Kiraly Gilbert
Wharton Aresty Institute, coordinated by Anne M. Corcoran-Petela
Wharton School, Business & Public Policy Department, coordinated by Beth Moskat
Wharton Marketing and Communications, coordinated by Marcia Longworth
Wharton School Dean’s Office, coordinated by Jennifer O’Keefe
Wharton School Undergraduate Division, coordinated by Bernadette Butler

*Several departments adopted multiple families.

Special thanks to the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology coordinated by Stephanie Yuhasz for their generous donation of gift cards that increased our capacity to adopt families and provide dinners. 

Special thanks to Paul and Terri Dziomba for their generous donation of gift cards from the Flyers Fan Club that further increased our capacity to adopt families, and support an agency in need of gifts for teenagers.

Special thanks to Helen Logan and the Office of General Counsel for adopting four families.

Special thanks to Brig Williams for providing over 500 books that were donated to Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s Holiday Party for the Homeless where over 4,000 were in attendance.

Special thanks to Human Resources coordinated by Syreeta Gary, and others from across the University for their large donation to the Annual Coat Drive. We provided coats to Project Home, Salvation Army and various local families.

Special thanks to Business Services for their Annual Warm Me Up, “Gloves with Love” Drive that benefited many local families, students in the Penn WorkPlace Mentoring Program and the People’s Emergency Shelter.

Thank you to the entire University community for donating over 1,200 gifts and toys.

Thank you to the Dropsite Volunteers who collected all the toys/gifts and made it possible for us to respond to request for donations from our neighbors: Councilwoman Blackwell’s Annual Holiday Party for the Homeless; Earth’s Keepers, Inc.; Parents Against Drugs; Youth Services, Inc.; Project Home; People’s Emergency Shelter and Salvation Army and local families.

— Isabel Sampson-Mapp, Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships

Back to Top