Kathy Drennan’s favorite part of the year is setting up the Christmas tree and watching the presents pile up. Drennan, the Student Union scheduling manager, and Tina Zwegat, associate director of the Student Union, put a little twist on the holiday tradition — their tree goes up in the Wilder lobby, and all of the presents will go to strangers.

Zwegat and Drennan organize the yearly Angel Tree, which is the result of a collaboration between the Student Union and Oberlin Community Services. OCS connects the wish lists of local low-income families with those who can afford to donate items such as toys, clothes, CDs and computer games.

Drennan smiled brightly as she said, “I just think the whole project is so touching.” Though she worries every year that not enough Oberlin community members will donate, leaving some families without gifts, Drennan was happy to note that “everyone’s always taken care of.”

Drennan and Zwegat took on the task after the student who instituted it in 1997, then an employee of the Student Union, graduated in 2000. Drennan estimated that between 70 and 80 Oberlin students and staff members donate gifts each year.

Though Angel Tree gifts have already been collected, students and community members are welcome to assist the Newman Catholic Community in sponsoring a family’s Christmas. Monetary donations or toys appropriate for children between the ages of 1 and 5 should be dropped off in Wilder 217.