December a season of giving for Penn students

With snowflakes, candy canes, holiday songs and even Santa Claus, Harrison College House transformed its Rooftop Lounge into a festive winter wonderland on Saturday afternoon. Over 200 foster children, foster parents and Penn students filled the room for Harrison's third annual holiday party. From six-month-olds to 20-somethings, the children came to enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs, cookies, and , of course, Christmas presents. Since Thanksgiving, the Harrison College House Residential Advisors, Graduate Associates and House Council representatives have been going door-to-door, fundraising for the event. The House raised about $3,200 for 70 foster families. "As soon as I told people about this, there was a very big move to get the money together," said Sunny Geiser, a GA and second-year Veterinary graduate student. "I didn't expect people to be so willing to part with their money, especially college students." Nursing sophomore and House Council representative Tori Beebe found a similar response on her floor. "I asked for five dollars and most people gave me $20," she said. Each floor raised money to buy the gifts on about eight children's wish lists. On Thursday, the event organizers and other Harrison students went shopping for the presents. A gift wrapping and decorating party followed on Friday, in preparation for the event. "It really is great," said Ethel Williams, a foster parent for over thirty years and president of the Philadelphia County Foster Parents Association. "Most of the parents don't know how to put it into words -- the students doing this for the kids. They've never had anything like this before." "I've come all three years, and every year it seems to get better" she said. The children lined up to sit in Santa's lap, enjoying the opportunity to take family pictures with him. Harrison residents handed out presents, one-by-one, to the children. Gifts included toy cars, Barbie dolls and clothes. "The best thing I can say is that it shows the kids that people love them and care about them at all times," foster parent Leatha Elliot said. "And the kids enjoy it so much." Jeannine Cicco, a College sophomore, felt the entire event was a fulfilling experience. "We just met our family [that we shopped for]. It was nice to match the faces with what we got them," she said. This was the first house event for new Harrison House Dean Frank Pellicone, who started earlier this month. "I'm very impressed with the RAs and GAs," Pellicone said. "It's a lot of time and effort in this part of the semester, when people should be studying and writing papers." Event organizer Melanie Shames, an Engineering senior, said she was pleased with the party's overall success. "It was a lot of work, but really rewarding," she said. "Everyone knew that this was all about the children and to see the little smiles on their faces."