Miami Student

Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: Community

The Oxford Family Resource Center will partner with Miami University organizations and a residence hall for this year's volunteer activities.

With the holidays steadily approaching, the Oxford Family Resource Center is continuing to work on bettering the community with assistance from Miami University student organizations and a newfound partnership with a residence hall.

Last year, the Oxford Family Resource Center raised more than $18,000, helping 151 households and more than 300 children during the holidays, said Melissa Barger, Family Resource Center support service coordinator. Last year the center participated in a variety of volunteer activities, such as food boxes and helping low-income families purchase gifts for Christmas.

"Our mission is to support families to become more self-sufficient, where families can become more involved in their holiday decisions," Barger said.

This is the third year that the Oxford Family Resource Center is running its gift program, for which money is raised through the community and distributed to individuals to buy gifts for their families at Wal-Mart. Instead of the typical adopt-a-family method of community need, the Family Resource Center believes in empowering the ways low-income families receive gifts, Barger said.

The Family Resource Center, which has had roots in Oxford since 1956 according to the center's Web site, has been readily preparing for the upcoming holidays. Volunteers are being organized, dates are being scheduled and activities are planned for the upcoming holiday season.

According to Barger, the center will be putting together food boxes for Thanksgiving and Christmas-the boxes will contain a variety of items, including a ham or turkey voucher to Kroger. They will be putting the boxes together at the Presbyterian seminar building Nov. 14 with the help of students from McCracken Hall, and will distribute them from 2-4 p.m. Nov. 17.

According to Barger, last year 250 people received food boxes for Thanksgiving and 200 received them for Christmas.

Volunteers and philanthropic organizations such as the Kiwanis Club and Miami University's Alpha Phi Omega fraternity will all volunteer to participate in the food drive. Numerous Miami University students also volunteer with the Oxford Resource Center, especially prior to Thanksgiving, according to Barger.

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