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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

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