October 31, 2025 • 11 mins
We spoke with Joslyn DeLancey, Vice President of the Connecticut Education Association and President of the Connecticut Education Foundation, about the upcoming Holiday Bear Project and how to get involved to support children in need during the holiday season.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison Devers. My guest this morning is Jocelyn Delancey. She
is vice president of the Connecticut Education Association and she's
president of the Connecticut Education Foundation. Good morning, Good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm great? Thank you? How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Pretty good?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
All right? For those who don't know about the Connecticut
Education Association, how did you come about?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
So? The Connecticut Education Association is Connecticut's actual largest labor union.
It is our state teachers union, or one of our
two state teachers unions along with the with Connecticut AFT.
But we serve over one hundred and fifty school districts
in the state of Connecticut and represent over thirty eight
thousand active teachers across the state and then some other
(00:50):
five thousand retired and aspiring educators. So we represent our
teachers to make sure that their rights are supported and
that they have conditions that are strong and well resource
so that they can do right, buy students and teach
and do all the wonderful things that they do for
parents and families across the state.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
And out of the Connecticut Education Association, the Connecticut Education
Foundation was born.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, So the Foundation was established in the early nineties
by a group of some of our members who really
wanted to commit to removing barriers for teaching and learning
for students and for our educators who might be facing,
you know, catastrophic hardships at different levels. So the Foundation
really serves to make sure that students have the resources
(01:37):
that they need. One of our largest programs is a
Children's Fund, which deserves to reimburse educators for buying resources
for students, anything from medical devices like hearing aids or eyeglasses,
to school uniforms, jackets, quotes, sleeping bags. You know, we
know that our educators go into their pockets on a
(01:58):
regular basis to support students, and this is a way
to allow for them to do that without having to
hurt our educators financially. So that's one thing that we do.
We also host read across Connecticut to make sure that
all students across the state have access to literacy. We
have scholarships for diversifying the profession and for students or
(02:19):
children of our members and our staff. And we also
do my favorite program, which is the Holiday Bear Project,
which makes sure that students around the holiday time have
gifts to be able to celebrate the season when they
might not otherwise be able to get them.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So that's going on right now, and yes, maybe you
can take us through the whole thing how it all works.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, it's a pretty tremendous project. So what happens at
the beginning of the school year around September, which sounds
pretty early, but it's really important for us to get
this information in a timely matter. Our teachers across the
state nominate students, working with their families understand who might
need to be in a space where they can't provide
(03:04):
gifts for their children on their own, and so the
teachers across the state nominate students to receive presents. They
put in the student's name, their interests, what they like,
a wish list of sorts of gifts that they think
that their students would appreciate. And then we have this
year over eight hundred students that have been nominated across
(03:27):
the state to receive holiday gifts. That's the first part
of the process. The next part is what we're in now,
which is collecting sponsors. So we have anywhere from small
businesses to school districts to individuals across the state who
put their names into sponsor a student or multiple students,
and what happens is they get the wish list of
(03:50):
those students and we send them this very large, very
fun with our logo on it, Duffel bag that the
sponsor would then get the lists, shop for the gifts,
wrap the gifts, put them in the Duffel bag, and
then in the end of December, right before the holidays start,
we deliver those bags to the schools and the kids
(04:10):
get to go home with a bag full of gifts
to celebrate the holiday season.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So it's a pretty tremendous project, but we were able
to do over eight hundred students last year and this
year the same we have over eight hundred students who
will be hoping to receive those gifts this holiday season.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Let's go back for a moment to the sponsors. You
give them a sponsor kit so they know everything that
they need to do.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yep, they get a packet, they get a label and
a name tag. We try to keep the anonymity of
the kid's fairly secure, so they'll get the child's first
name and the school that they're in, and that's about
the information on the kid, plus their likes and their
wish list of what their interests are, and then they
get to go shopping for that student. We also take
(04:56):
donations and the foundation will have its volunteers also go
shopping for students if we can't match every kid with
a direct sponsor, So that's really important too. Last year
we had about twenty students that didn't get a direct
sponsor that the foundation got. I got to go shopping,
which was fun for me, but because I love it's
(05:16):
so cool to be able to go to a store
and get gifts for somebody else and try and you know,
help to make their holiday season more special.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
When you say donations, do you want people to drop
off gifts or would it be easier if they just
donated money so that you can purchase the gifts.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, it's easier to donate the money so that we
can look at the lists of what the students requested
and personalize it.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
What would it cost a sponsor a child.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So it really depends on how well you shop. I'm
not a great shopper when it comes to good deals
and discounts, so I probably would spend around one hundred
and fifty dollars a student, but others can spend under
one hundred dollars if you're you know, we ask about
for ten to fifteen gifts, So it really depends on
you know, how you kind of put that together. We
(06:04):
try to make it. I mean, a lot of our
sponsors are teachers themselves, so we try to kind of
share the wealth, so to speak. So we have a
lot of districts where they'll take on a bunch of
kids and then the teachers will split up the list
and you know, one teacher will buy one or two
gifts and then another teacher will buy one or two
gifts and put them all together to make a package,
which is a really fun way to build community. We
(06:25):
know we have some small businesses who take on one
or two kids and then let their staff kind of
buy the gifts and put it together. And it really
is actually a nice way to celebrate the holiday season
and the spirit of the holidays, especially right now when
we know money's tight for pretty much everybody.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
So is the need great right now in Connecticut?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Oh, it's pretty tremendous. And I think as we see
some of these changes that might be coming up with
healthcare and snap benefits, there couldn't be a better time
to think about sponsoring and giving. People are going to
be thinking about their basic needs just food and such,
and kids are probably going to miss out on things
like presence and anything that's extra. So being able to
(07:06):
provide these gifts and some cheer and something a little
bit fun for families where they're really just trying to
get their basic needs NET is something. NET is something
that I think would be really great, especially for me
who's in a position where that's not something I'm worried
about at the current moment. So it's a great way
for us to be able to give back and support
(07:27):
our communities, especially you know, kids should have a happy
holiday season.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
What kind of responses have you seen with the kids.
I mean, it must be like Christmas morning when they're
opening the presence and losing their minds.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Oh, it's really tremendous. And you know, again, we do
try to keep the anonymity of the students kind of sacred.
It's kind of important to us. But what we do
see we have parents who call and say thank you,
my kids had were able to have a holiday. Really
that was taken care of by the sponsors, and we
wouldn't have had that otherwise. I've had where I've dropped
(08:00):
off bags at schools and the teachers of the students
break out in joyful tiers because they're just so impressed
by the generosity and the fact that these kids can
actually get something that's meaningful and fun during the holidays.
So I've seen just I mean, it's just such a
tremendous thing. And when we have schools that do this sponsorship,
(08:21):
We've seen we have one school it's so cute. The
kindergarteners bring the bags to us. So they're in there,
they're having like a pajama day and some fun holiday
season kind of joy in their classrooms and they they're
in their pajamas and they bring these big, full Duffel
bags out and are just so excited to know that
they've helped have another kid and another school somewhere across
(08:43):
the state have a happy holiday. It's a really special,
cool thing, something I'm really proud to be a part of.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And when do the gifts need to be delivered to CEA.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So usually by December fifth, because that gives us a
two week period where we can get those bags to
the schools. But we also have an opportunity if you
get a student that's in a school that's close to
where you live, or that you have the means to
go and drop off the bag yourself. We allow for
that as well. It's just that if you need a
(09:16):
little bit more time, that will help. But really we
need the gifts to the schools before that last day
for vacation to make sure that those kids get the
bags the holiday.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Can you give me a hint of what's on the
wish list this year for kids?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Big things? This year, we have a lot of kids
who really like legos that are really big. I don't know,
it's cool to see that legos are still like a big,
a big hit around around the kids these days. A
lot of kids really do like stuffed animals. We still have,
you know, some of the we try to not wishless
(09:52):
big ticket tech items, but you know, ear air pods
for some of the high school kids, not not the
Apple ones, but you know know anything that's kind of
like a headphones or like we actually get a lot
of those like little microphones that you can sing karaoke to.
So I mean there's just so many fun things on there.
And then of course we get like basic like throw
blankets and slippers and you know, the cozy things that
(10:15):
help make a winter season a little bit more comfortable.
I just think not a lot of people understand how
many students the Foundation actually supports throughout the year. It's
hundreds across the state, and so any support that we
could have for the Foundation, all of our work is
done through donations. The Association, our members do don't go
(10:38):
to fund the Foundation. It's really about donations and the
work that we do, and it's teachers making sure that
students have opportunities to thrive.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
So sweet, Well, I'm speaking with Jocelyn de Lancey, vice
president of the Connecticut Education Association and president of the
Connecticut Education Foundation. It's Holiday Beer Project time. If you'd
like to make a donation, if you'd like to sponsor,
get involved, it's c e A dot org. That's Kat
Edward Allison dot org. Ce A dot org. Thank you
(11:11):
so much for being here today and for all of
the amazing work you're doing.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Thanks so much, Alliston
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison Devers. My guest this morning is Jocelyn Delancey. She
is vice president of the Connecticut Education Association and she's
president of the Connecticut Education Foundation. Good morning, Good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm great? Thank you? How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Pretty good?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
All right? For those who don't know about the Connecticut
Education Association, how did you come about?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
So? The Connecticut Education Association is Connecticut's actual largest labor union.
It is our state teachers union, or one of our
two state teachers unions along with the with Connecticut AFT.
But we serve over one hundred and fifty school districts
in the state of Connecticut and represent over thirty eight
thousand active teachers across the state and then some other
(00:50):
five thousand retired and aspiring educators. So we represent our
teachers to make sure that their rights are supported and
that they have conditions that are strong and well resource
so that they can do right, buy students and teach
and do all the wonderful things that they do for
parents and families across the state.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
And out of the Connecticut Education Association, the Connecticut Education
Foundation was born.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, So the Foundation was established in the early nineties
by a group of some of our members who really
wanted to commit to removing barriers for teaching and learning
for students and for our educators who might be facing,
you know, catastrophic hardships at different levels. So the Foundation
really serves to make sure that students have the resources
(01:37):
that they need. One of our largest programs is a
Children's Fund, which deserves to reimburse educators for buying resources
for students, anything from medical devices like hearing aids or eyeglasses,
to school uniforms, jackets, quotes, sleeping bags. You know, we
know that our educators go into their pockets on a
(01:58):
regular basis to support students, and this is a way
to allow for them to do that without having to
hurt our educators financially. So that's one thing that we do.
We also host read across Connecticut to make sure that
all students across the state have access to literacy. We
have scholarships for diversifying the profession and for students or
(02:19):
children of our members and our staff. And we also
do my favorite program, which is the Holiday Bear Project,
which makes sure that students around the holiday time have
gifts to be able to celebrate the season when they
might not otherwise be able to get them.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So that's going on right now, and yes, maybe you
can take us through the whole thing how it all works.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, it's a pretty tremendous project. So what happens at
the beginning of the school year around September, which sounds
pretty early, but it's really important for us to get
this information in a timely matter. Our teachers across the
state nominate students, working with their families understand who might
need to be in a space where they can't provide
(03:04):
gifts for their children on their own, and so the
teachers across the state nominate students to receive presents. They
put in the student's name, their interests, what they like,
a wish list of sorts of gifts that they think
that their students would appreciate. And then we have this
year over eight hundred students that have been nominated across
(03:27):
the state to receive holiday gifts. That's the first part
of the process. The next part is what we're in now,
which is collecting sponsors. So we have anywhere from small
businesses to school districts to individuals across the state who
put their names into sponsor a student or multiple students,
and what happens is they get the wish list of
(03:50):
those students and we send them this very large, very
fun with our logo on it, Duffel bag that the
sponsor would then get the lists, shop for the gifts,
wrap the gifts, put them in the Duffel bag, and
then in the end of December, right before the holidays start,
we deliver those bags to the schools and the kids
(04:10):
get to go home with a bag full of gifts
to celebrate the holiday season.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So it's a pretty tremendous project, but we were able
to do over eight hundred students last year and this
year the same we have over eight hundred students who
will be hoping to receive those gifts this holiday season.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Let's go back for a moment to the sponsors. You
give them a sponsor kit so they know everything that
they need to do.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yep, they get a packet, they get a label and
a name tag. We try to keep the anonymity of
the kid's fairly secure, so they'll get the child's first
name and the school that they're in, and that's about
the information on the kid, plus their likes and their
wish list of what their interests are, and then they
get to go shopping for that student. We also take
(04:56):
donations and the foundation will have its volunteers also go
shopping for students if we can't match every kid with
a direct sponsor, So that's really important too. Last year
we had about twenty students that didn't get a direct
sponsor that the foundation got. I got to go shopping,
which was fun for me, but because I love it's
(05:16):
so cool to be able to go to a store
and get gifts for somebody else and try and you know,
help to make their holiday season more special.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
When you say donations, do you want people to drop
off gifts or would it be easier if they just
donated money so that you can purchase the gifts.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, it's easier to donate the money so that we
can look at the lists of what the students requested
and personalize it.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
What would it cost a sponsor a child.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
So it really depends on how well you shop. I'm
not a great shopper when it comes to good deals
and discounts, so I probably would spend around one hundred
and fifty dollars a student, but others can spend under
one hundred dollars if you're you know, we ask about
for ten to fifteen gifts, So it really depends on
you know, how you kind of put that together. We
(06:04):
try to make it. I mean, a lot of our
sponsors are teachers themselves, so we try to kind of
share the wealth, so to speak. So we have a
lot of districts where they'll take on a bunch of
kids and then the teachers will split up the list
and you know, one teacher will buy one or two
gifts and then another teacher will buy one or two
gifts and put them all together to make a package,
which is a really fun way to build community. We
(06:25):
know we have some small businesses who take on one
or two kids and then let their staff kind of
buy the gifts and put it together. And it really
is actually a nice way to celebrate the holiday season
and the spirit of the holidays, especially right now when
we know money's tight for pretty much everybody.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
So is the need great right now in Connecticut?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Oh, it's pretty tremendous. And I think as we see
some of these changes that might be coming up with
healthcare and snap benefits, there couldn't be a better time
to think about sponsoring and giving. People are going to
be thinking about their basic needs just food and such,
and kids are probably going to miss out on things
like presence and anything that's extra. So being able to
(07:06):
provide these gifts and some cheer and something a little
bit fun for families where they're really just trying to
get their basic needs NET is something. NET is something
that I think would be really great, especially for me
who's in a position where that's not something I'm worried
about at the current moment. So it's a great way
for us to be able to give back and support
(07:27):
our communities, especially you know, kids should have a happy
holiday season.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
What kind of responses have you seen with the kids.
I mean, it must be like Christmas morning when they're
opening the presence and losing their minds.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Oh, it's really tremendous. And you know, again, we do
try to keep the anonymity of the students kind of sacred.
It's kind of important to us. But what we do
see we have parents who call and say thank you,
my kids had were able to have a holiday. Really
that was taken care of by the sponsors, and we
wouldn't have had that otherwise. I've had where I've dropped
(08:00):
off bags at schools and the teachers of the students
break out in joyful tiers because they're just so impressed
by the generosity and the fact that these kids can
actually get something that's meaningful and fun during the holidays.
So I've seen just I mean, it's just such a
tremendous thing. And when we have schools that do this sponsorship,
(08:21):
We've seen we have one school it's so cute. The
kindergarteners bring the bags to us. So they're in there,
they're having like a pajama day and some fun holiday
season kind of joy in their classrooms and they they're
in their pajamas and they bring these big, full Duffel
bags out and are just so excited to know that
they've helped have another kid and another school somewhere across
(08:43):
the state have a happy holiday. It's a really special,
cool thing, something I'm really proud to be a part of.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And when do the gifts need to be delivered to CEA.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So usually by December fifth, because that gives us a
two week period where we can get those bags to
the schools. But we also have an opportunity if you
get a student that's in a school that's close to
where you live, or that you have the means to
go and drop off the bag yourself. We allow for
that as well. It's just that if you need a
(09:16):
little bit more time, that will help. But really we
need the gifts to the schools before that last day
for vacation to make sure that those kids get the
bags the holiday.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Can you give me a hint of what's on the
wish list this year for kids?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Big things? This year, we have a lot of kids
who really like legos that are really big. I don't know,
it's cool to see that legos are still like a big,
a big hit around around the kids these days. A
lot of kids really do like stuffed animals. We still have,
you know, some of the we try to not wishless
(09:52):
big ticket tech items, but you know, ear air pods
for some of the high school kids, not not the
Apple ones, but you know know anything that's kind of
like a headphones or like we actually get a lot
of those like little microphones that you can sing karaoke to.
So I mean there's just so many fun things on there.
And then of course we get like basic like throw
blankets and slippers and you know, the cozy things that
(10:15):
help make a winter season a little bit more comfortable.
I just think not a lot of people understand how
many students the Foundation actually supports throughout the year. It's
hundreds across the state, and so any support that we
could have for the Foundation, all of our work is
done through donations. The Association, our members do don't go
(10:38):
to fund the Foundation. It's really about donations and the
work that we do, and it's teachers making sure that
students have opportunities to thrive.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
So sweet, Well, I'm speaking with Jocelyn de Lancey, vice
president of the Connecticut Education Association and president of the
Connecticut Education Foundation. It's Holiday Beer Project time. If you'd
like to make a donation, if you'd like to sponsor,
get involved, it's c e A dot org. That's Kat
Edward Allison dot org. Ce A dot org. Thank you
(11:11):
so much for being here today and for all of
the amazing work you're doing.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Thanks so much, Alliston
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