inside: - UCLA Health System
inside: - UCLA Health System
inside: - UCLA Health System
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Celebrating Giving<br />
For many, the holiday season conjures up expectations<br />
of joyous family gatherings, special foods and<br />
wonderful gifts. However, for some — especially those<br />
with a severely ill family member — the holiday season can<br />
be a cruel reminder of personal loss and deprivation, a time<br />
when family budgets, already stretched tight or even<br />
nonexistent, cannot bear the cost of a traditional holiday<br />
meal or a small gift for the children.<br />
Each year during the holiday season, <strong>UCLA</strong> Medical<br />
Center Auxiliary Adopt-A-Family Program chooses<br />
families of <strong>UCLA</strong> patients experiencing extraordinary<br />
challenges by providing at least the basic essentials— and<br />
sometimes a few unexpected extras — to make the holidays<br />
a little brighter for the whole family. With the help of<br />
<strong>UCLA</strong>’s Department of Clinical Social Work, Medical<br />
Center Auxiliary and generous donations from departments<br />
and employees, all the families and participants involved<br />
are able to share in the joy and happiness of what the<br />
holidays are really about— giving.<br />
Nancy Hall, assistant director of the Department of<br />
Clinical Social Work, is one of many individuals asked every<br />
year by the <strong>UCLA</strong> Medical Center Auxiliary to nominate<br />
patients and families who could benefit from the program.<br />
“We often focus on families struggling with financial<br />
resources, and it’s a time when we need to recognize not only<br />
the ill patient but the neglected siblings and parents who<br />
don’t have the time or resources to make sure the holidays are<br />
like holidays at all. Due to the close relationships social<br />
workers have with patients, we are able to determine which<br />
families might benefit from the program.”<br />
Once nominated by the social work department,<br />
information about the size, location and needs of the families<br />
are turned over to the <strong>UCLA</strong> Medical Center Auxiliary. It is<br />
then up to the auxiliary’s chairpersons to recruit hospital<br />
departments and individuals to “adopt” the patients’ families.<br />
“It’s an incredible give-give situation, where everyone<br />
feels good about what they can do,” says Murphy Litvack,<br />
co-chair person of the Auxiliary Program. “With the help of<br />
co-chair Rachel Dourec, president Helen Levin and 500<br />
auxiliary members, the holiday season is a bit more<br />
cheerful for our patients and their families.”<br />
Adopted families provide a wish list along with the ages<br />
6