SCA Holiday Gift Drive
Source/Author: Allison Skorewicz, Gift Drive Chair
November 05, 2025
The holiday season is approaching, which means the Shorecrest Holiday Gift Drive benefiting Hero to a Child is just around the corner! For more than 30 years the Holiday Gift Drive has been the School’s signature service event with participation from students and families at every grade level and alumni families. Through the Holiday Gift Drive, the Shorecrest community provides holiday gifts to over 270 underserved children through Hero to a Child, which provides advocacy and support for abused, abandoned or neglected children in the Guardian ad Litem Program of Pinellas and Pasco Counties. Last year’s Gift Drive brought holiday joy to 240 children.
The Gift Drive begins on December 1, when children can begin bringing unwrapped gifts into their classroom, and culminates on December 12, when our students will bring the hundreds of presents they have collected to the Athletic Center, where our parent and community volunteers will organize the gifts that will make so many children’s holidays just a little brighter. On Saturday, December 13, the Guardian ad Litem volunteer child advocates will come to campus for a drive-through pick up of the gifts.
How You Can Help
Purchase gifts: Watch for emails from your class representative or a grade level representative. The email will provide a link to sign up for gifts to purchase, as well as details on how to label and send in your gifts. The links for each grade are also listed at the bottom of this page. Send in your gifts with your child between December 1 and December 12. All gifts should be unwrapped with a label attached with the child’s name and Child ID# (and a description of the contents if not obvious from the packaging). If you are sending in gift cards or expensive items like airpods, please give them to the Assistant to the Division Head in your child’s division.
Donate cash: We realize how busy many of you are and it is hard to find time to shop. Cash donations are essential to the success of the Gift Drive – we use this money to make sure that all gifts are purchased so that no child is left without the gifts that they want and need. This year, we are also asking that you donate money towards the purchase of most gift cards requested by children instead of purchasing the gift card yourself.
Volunteer: We will have several shifts for volunteers throughout both days of the Gift Drive, for sorting and organizing (Friday, December 13) and running the drive through pick up (Saturday, December 14). A link to the volunteer sign up with be available soon.
Thank you in advance for helping make this year’s holidays extra special for over 270 children that the Holiday Gift Drive will serve. We know this event will once again showcase the giving spirit of the Shorecrest community.
Alumni and alumni families are invited to participate in the Gift Drive that many devoted time and effort to when they were students / parents at Shorecrest. A link to sign up to participate as alumni will be shared soon. Toys may also be brought to the Alumni Holiday Social at Mastry’s Brewing Co. on Thursday, December 4. RSVP for the Alumni Social
If you have questions or want to get more involved, please email [email protected].
Holiday Gift Drive Co-chairs,
Stacy Conroy ‘00, Ciarra Johnson, and Allison Skorewicz
