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October 28, 2024 25 mins

How can we create holiday outreach programs that truly lift up our students, without compromising their dignity? Join me, Steph Johnson, and let's discuss the heart of compassionate holiday outreach. We'll explore practical, ethical strategies that make a real impact, especially for students facing economic challenges or homelessness. Together, we’ll look at what works (and what doesn’t) with programs like coat drives and gift trees, and how we can avoid the common pitfalls that sometimes reinforce the very barriers we're trying to break.

It takes more than just good intentions to plan a successful holiday outreach program: it takes foresight, collaboration, and a solid game plan. We’ll walk through the essential steps for organizing an initiative that hits home, from early planning and community buy-in to volunteer coordination and mindful promotion. With a little strategic thinking and support from resources like the School for School Counselors Mastermind Initiatives, even the smallest contributions can make a huge difference. Let's make this holiday season not just a warm memory for our students, but a meaningful experience for the whole school community.

GET THE FREE OUTREACH PLANNING GUIDE HERE



Start planning now to ensure a rewarding holiday outreach effort.

00:00 Introduction: Are Your Holiday Outreach Efforts Effective?

03:18 Empowering vs. Reinforcing Challenges

04:24 Special Populations and Holiday Stress

07:51 Coordinating Outreach Efforts

09:41 Aligning Outreach with Ethical Guidelines

10:49 Inclusive Giving: Everyone Can Contribute

13:12 Creating a Successful Holiday Outreach Program

21:14 Sharing Success and Impact

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References/Resources:

American School Counselor Association (2016). Ethical standards for school counselors. ASCA. Retrieved from ASCA Ethical Standards

Evans, G.W. and Kim, P. (2013), Childhood Poverty, Chronic Stress, Self-Regulation, and Coping. Child Dev Perspect, 7: 43-48. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12013 

Gershoff, E. T., Aber, J. L., Raver, C. C., & Lennon, M. C. (2007). Income is not enough: Incorporating material hardship into models of income associations with parenting and child development. Child Development, 78(1), 70-95. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00986.x

McNeely, C., & Falci, C. (2004). School connectedness and the transition into and out of health-risk behavior among adolescents: A comparison of social belonging and teacher support. Journal of School Health, 74(7), 284-292. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ743601

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are your school's holiday outreach efforts really
making the impact you think theyare, or could they be doing
more harm than good?
As school counselors, we'reoften asked to step in this time
of year to head up coat drives,food donations or gift trees,

(00:20):
but if we don't plan thesethings well, our good intentions
could actually end upundermining the dignity of the
students we're really trying tosupport.
In this podcast episode, we'regoing to explore how to create
compassionate, ethical andeffective outreach initiatives

(00:42):
that truly uplift your schoolcommunity outreach initiatives
that truly uplift your schoolcommunity.
Hi y'all, I'm Steph Johnson.
Welcome back to the School forSchool Counselors podcast.
I'm a full-time schoolcounselor, just like you, on a
mission to make schoolcounseling more sustainable and
more enjoyable, and I'm so gladyou've joined me this week.

(01:03):
Before we jump into this podcastepisode, I would love to take
just a second to share a fewmore of the amazing reviews
we've received from listenersjust like you.
One review came from Gracie J1216.
They titled their review Such aHelpful Podcast.
They gave us five shiny goldstars and went on to say this as

(01:26):
a first year counselor, steph'spodcast has given helpful
advice and information that hashelped me as I'm getting started
.
We also received another reviewfrom Mrs M Arbogast titled New
Listener, and that review saidthis I've just started listening
to the podcast in the morningswhile getting ready for work.

(01:49):
It's a calm way to start my day.
But I also have a lot oftakeaways to get my mind revved
up and steps to take to makechanges in my program.
Last week I took my what yousay in here stays in here, sign
down and threw it in the trash.
I appreciate Steph's knowledgeand expertise.

(02:10):
That review is referring to apodcast episode we did
previously called the Giant Lie.
School Counselors Tell EveryDay.
So if you're wondering whatthat reviewer was talking about,
go back in the archives of thepodcast and listen to that
episode, because I'm here totell you it's going to give you
a whole new perspective on howyou explain confidentiality and

(02:34):
gain assent from students.
Thanks to both of theselisteners for providing such
amazing reviews.
That's the heart and soul ofour podcast, because I want to
make sure that what my team andI are putting out is helpful to
you and that it's making adifference.
So thanks to these folks forletting us know that it has, and

(02:57):
if you would like to submit areview of the podcast.
Please go to your podcastplayer of choice, leave a quick
review and then, if you want, toscreenshot it and email it to
me, I just might have a littlesomething for you.
Hello atschoolforschoolcounselorscom.
All right, so back to the topicat hand.

(03:18):
As school counselors, we want togive back.
We want to make sure that ourstudents are taken care of,
especially as we reach theholidays.
But as you organize these typesof things at your school, have
you ever stopped to wonder ifyour outreach efforts are
actually empowering yourstudents, or are they

(03:42):
unintentionally reinforcing allthe challenges they face on the
daily anyway?
We're going to walk throughsome practical approaches, but
also some ethical considerations, to holiday outreach, so that
you can honor the dignity ofevery student and every family

(04:02):
while still creating that senseof community and belonging.
Whether you are charged withorganizing a coat drive, food
donations, gift trees, whateverthe case may be, we're going to
talk about how you can make yourefforts more impactful and more
inclusive and more inclusive.

(04:22):
This month on the podcast,we've been talking a lot about
special populations, how to bestserve them, what are the
challenges and the approaches tothat, and we've also talked
about how a lot of thepaper-based counseling
activities may not beappropriate for students in
special populations.

(04:43):
We're going to continue theSpecial Pops theme this week as
we talk about these holidayoutreach needs, when we're
likely considering our studentsthat may be economically
disadvantaged or perhapshomeless.
The holidays are so joyful forso many people on our campuses,

(05:04):
but for students who experiencepoverty, perhaps unstable home
environments or other kinds ofsimilar hardships, these
holidays are stressful.
They can significantly affecttheir well-being, including
their sense of belonging to thegreater group, and perhaps even

(05:25):
their academic performance,depending on the need.
We know from the research thatchronic stress, especially when
it comes from a root of poverty,can affect students' abilities
to self-regulate and use copingmechanisms, and Evans and Kim
2013, tell us that, with theincreased social pressures of

(05:49):
the holiday, as well as thefinancial burdens, this actually
increases stress in thesealready vulnerable populations.
Now, one of the great thingsabout outreach programs on our
campuses is that it can serve asa pretty significant protective
factor.

(06:09):
Things like food drives andcoat drives and gift-giving
programs build that sense ofcommunity across your campus,
for sure, but they also buildsupport for students who may not
feel connected to peers or tothe staff.
That's according to McNeely andFauci 2004.

(06:30):
But on the other side of things,according to Gershoff and Team
2007, an inability to meet basicneeds, especially when that
occurs during the holidays, cancause feelings of shame and
isolation in children andadolescents.
So things that provide directsupport, like food and clothing,

(06:53):
can help mitigate some of theirchallenges, can maybe help
boost morale and decrease thelikelihood that we're going to
see some big behavioral issuescoming out of deprivation,
feeling of lack, feeling of notbeing included.
However, we have to be carefulthat we orchestrate these

(07:16):
programs in the right way toavoid highlighting students or
unintentionally calling them out.
Now, I know none of us reallyset out to do that, but I do
think the way that a lot ofthese programs are structured
sometimes leads to that end, andso we want to be very careful.
So let's kind of walk throughthe common components of these

(07:41):
outreach efforts so that you canidentify what you have in place
already or perhaps somecomponents that you need to give
some further thought to.
First, I think it is superimportant that you do not commit
to doing this on your own.
So many school counselors havethe biggest hearts ever for
their students and they'rewilling to take on pretty much

(08:02):
anything and everything to maketheir students and they're
willing to take on pretty muchanything and everything to make
sure students have what theyneed right and I'll bet that
describes you too.
So we have to be careful aboutover-committing ourselves when
we get into this holiday season.
Currently, we're in Shocktober,and you know exactly what I'm

(08:24):
talking about when I say thatword.
Behaviors are on the upswing,challenges are growing, lots and
lots of things going on on ourcampuses, and then just our pace
and the amount of activities wehave going on seem to be
increasing.
Things are going faster andfaster and faster.
We also know that as theholidays approach, the needs are

(08:46):
going to intensify.
We're going to see somestudents that really kind of
panic once holiday breaks startlooming on the horizon, once the
weather changes, once resourcesdry up from the beginning of
the school year.
There are lots of things thatcan spark that off, and so we're
going to be running fast, we'regoing to be working furiously

(09:08):
and we want to make sure thatwe're not adding too much to our
plates as we're looking atthese holiday outreach efforts.
So who can you coordinate with?
Are there local businesses thatyou can work with in order to
make this happen.
Are there local charitableorganizations, perhaps some

(09:28):
parent groups, or maybe evenyour school staff, who would be
willing to give you a hand tocreate an effective and
impactful holiday outreach foryour school?
Second, I think we need to givea good deal of consideration to
aligning these efforts withethical guidelines to make sure

(09:52):
that we ensure dignity for allof our students.
Our ASCA ethical standardsrequire us to keep participation
in programs like coat drives orfood drives confidential in
order to avoid stigmatization,and we need to offer services in
a way that everyone in theschool community is invited to

(10:15):
participate so that we canreduce the divide between the
givers and the receivers, thegivers and the receivers
Sometimes that looks likemultiple options for giving,
providing a way that evenstudents who don't have much and

(10:37):
perhaps may be recipients ofthese programs still have the
opportunity to give, becauseit's not about the items so much
as it is about not stigmatizingthem, not calling them out, not
making them seem different fromeveryone else because they have
nothing to give, and I thinkthis is something we really
overlook.
This came to my attention oneyear as a teacher.

(10:58):
We were doing a canned fooddrive on our campus and a
student showed up and she wasjust giving and giving and
giving.
She just kept bringing cans andcans of food and we kept saying
, wow, you are so wonderful forhelping all these people in our
community, way to go.
And then one day she showed upwithout any cans and she seemed

(11:19):
really down about it, reallysaddened by the fact she hadn't
brought any, and we all justkind of assumed she'd forgotten
them.
So someone asked her hey, bythe fact she hadn't brought any
and we all just kind of assumedshe'd forgotten them.
So someone asked her hey, wenoticed you didn't bring any
canned food today.
Have you decided you're justabout done?
And she looked up at them andsaid no.
My mom said we can't give anymore of our food bank food to

(11:40):
other people.
We need to keep it at homepeople, we need to keep it at
home.
And man, that really hit myheart hard, because these folks
were receiving food from thelocal food bank but they were
giving as well because thestudent didn't want other
children in her class to knowthat she was different.

(12:00):
And I think that's something wedon't often think of.
What is a small ask that wecould make in conjunction with
these efforts so that everybodyhas the opportunity to give
something small.
As another example, when we doour holiday gift outreach, we do
a giving tree on our campus andwe provide gifts for some of

(12:24):
our families that are ineconomic hardship, and one of
the ways that we let allstudents participate in this
thing is not to ask everybody tobuy anonymous gifts for other
children, but to allow them tobring coins or dollar bills to
donate toward the fund.
That way, a student could bringa bag of pennies, if that's

(12:48):
what they have, or they couldbring a dollar bill and still
feel like they're part of theeffort, even if we're turning
some of those funds around toprovide gifts for their very own
family.
It is a way to allow them to bepart of the giving but also to
be included in a communityeffort, regardless of who's on

(13:10):
the receiving end of those.
All right.
So then, how do we create asuccessful holiday outreach
program If you've never done onebefore?
Or perhaps you've done one buthaven't felt it's successful?
It just feels like untanglingthis huge wad of yarn right.
There are so many moving piecesand so many things that have to

(13:32):
be done that sometimes it feelsoverwhelming knowing where to
even start.
So let's kind of talk throughthe components of a successful
holiday outreach program.
Number one you need to set arealistic goal for your outreach
.
You don't want to promise toomuch before you know you can

(13:54):
deliver.
For instance, if you were doinga coat drive and for some
reason promised recipientsbefore coats were received, you
wouldn't know if you were goingto receive enough coats to
fulfill that need right.
So we've got to be carefulabout the way we present this.
If we are preloading names orfamilies into a list, hoping to

(14:17):
be able to fulfill thoserequests, we need to be very
upfront with families and saythat we may not be able to
fulfill all requests.
And signing up for theinitiative isn't necessarily a
guarantee of receiving items.
That's really important and Iknow that seems kind of callous
and cold and contrary to thespirit of the outreach.

(14:40):
But I promise you thatpotential recipients are going
to appreciate your candorbecause if they need to start
looking elsewhere for theessentials, they need to know
that now.
So ideally, if you're going tobe running one of these outreach
efforts this year, you havealready begun to identify needs

(15:02):
Now.
If you haven't yet, don't panic, there's still time.
But typically I like to do thistwo or three months in advance
and again, that probably seemsso crazy to some of you, but I
do that to give myself plenty oftime to work through them
effectively, and I'm able to dothat because of the way I plan

(15:23):
my school year out from theget-go.
We do a lot of talking inSchool for School Counselors at
the start of the school yearabout how to set yourself up for
success, and many of ourMastermind members already have
this in place.
They have a calendar alreadyset up reminding them hey, three
months from now we're going tobe running a coat drive, let's

(15:44):
start doing A, b and C.
Now we're going to be running acoat drive, let's start doing A
, b and C.
So they have their year alreadymapped out.
They're not relying on theirmemory, hoping that they're
going to be able to recall allthe components from the previous
year.
No, they've got it all writtendown and ready to go.
So you may need to identify theneeds by surveying students and
families confidentially to seewho could benefit.

(16:06):
You may be looking at yourschool data who's on free or
reduced lunch, who are part ofother programs.
Whatever information, you haveto really focus your outreach
efforts, community information,community surveys, charitable
organization information orperhaps a brief campus needs

(16:27):
assessment for things like coats, food and gifts.
Set your goals for how manyfamilies or students you want to
help and what resources you'regoing to need to collect.
Then, one to two months out,you're going to reach out to
your partners businesses,community organizations, whoever

(16:50):
it is you're going to beworking with.
Reach out to them to line outthe details and finalize how
things are going to work.
Where are the donation drop-offlocations going to be?
Will there be any matchingfunds?
Are there volunteers availableto help process the initiative?
Those kinds of things.
At this time, we're also findingour candidates, so we've tried

(17:13):
to identify the needs, but inthis phase we are refining our
selection process anddetermining if we're going to be
using some sort of criteria.
Are we going to allownominations?
Is it going to be a lotterysystem?
Is there going to need to be await list for high needs
campuses?
You need to determine all ofthose things ahead of time and

(17:35):
be sure your admin is on boardwith these decisions.
Also, one to two months inadvance, you're gonna start
promoting this outreach programthrough your newsletters, social
media and posters around theschool.
Remember, I said to me fourweeks is the sweet spot, but if
you have some fall breaks,winter holidays in the middle of

(17:57):
that, you may need more thanfour weeks.
That's why we say one to twomonths.
You're going to want to secureyour volunteers of student
leaders, staff and parents,making sure that everybody is
signed up, they're ready to goand they understand what their
job is going to be.
And you need to set yourcollection schedule.
What are the dates forcollecting donations?

(18:19):
Where are the locations?
Communicate these,over-communicate these, because
it never fails.
Someone says I didn't knowabout this, I had no idea.
You're going to feel like youare repeating yourself over and
over again throughout the seasonand if you feel that way, you
know you're doing it right.

(18:40):
As we move through this outreachinitiative, the next phase is
collecting donations, sortingthose and organizing those,
hopefully with the help of yourvolunteers, and then preparing
distribution plans.
What are the logistics of this?
Do you need to coordinatepickup times?
Do you need to arrange deliveryfor families who can't come to

(19:03):
school?
And again, take thatstigmatization factor into mind
as you're thinking through this.
A student may not want to walkthrough campus carrying a bag of
donated holiday items.
They might not want to be seenwith that.
So what are some ways that youcan get these to students
without drawing attention?

(19:24):
Then, a week before the outreachinitiative is scheduled to end,
you're going to want to confirmthose distribution schedules or
deliveries with families andthe volunteers.
You want to begin preparingyour thank you notes to
recognize your volunteers andyour donors for their
contributions and you want tohold a final meeting, kind of

(19:47):
review your plan for theinitiative.
Troubleshoot any last minuteissues that pop up, but also
don't forget to write down whatwent right.
Create a brief timeline foryourself of the good and the bad
so if this comes up as aresponsibility for you again
next year, you'll know exactlywhat to do.

(20:07):
And then, after your outreachinitiative is over, make sure
that you send some thank youemails or letters to your donors
and volunteers and reallyhighlight the impact of their
support.
Don't just say thanks so muchfor participating in our holiday
coat drive.
We were able to help so manystudents at XYZ campus.

(20:30):
We appreciate your help.
That's thoughtful, but itdoesn't quite hit the mark.
Instead, you might highlightthe specific impact of their
efforts.
For example, thanks to yourgenerosity, we were able to
provide coats for 241 studentson our campus.
Or, thanks to your generousgiving, we were able to provide

(20:52):
250 pounds of canned food itemsto the local food bank.
Get specific Let people knowexactly what the outcome was of
the outreach initiative and asthey learn about that and it
becomes real in their minds dueto the concrete information
you're giving, they're going tobe more likely to participate

(21:13):
the next time.
And then this last step is onethat I think a lot of people
overlook or feel like theyshouldn't do, because they don't
want to call attention tothemselves or they don't want to
come across as though they'rebragging.
But you do need to share thesuccess of the outreach with
your school community.

(21:33):
We also need to share thesuccess of the outreach with our
administrators.
Don't assume that they'vereally understood all that has
gone into this outreachinitiative.
Line it out for them in blackand white so they really
understand exactly what happened.
Give the number of volunteers.

(21:56):
Where did they come from?
How far out did you startplanning this?
How many people were impacted?
What's the monetary value ofthat, so that they really
understand the awesomeness ofwhat you've just done.
I hope that is helpful for youas you prepare for these holiday

(22:16):
months and remember that youroutreach has the potential to
transform students' lives, andit's about more than just
meeting material needs.
It's about building a sense ofcommunity and also a sense of
dignity.
If you plan thoughtfully andremember those ethical

(22:39):
considerations, y'all it's goingto make all the difference and
you are going to feel so proudand your students are going to
feel so loved.
If listening to all the stepsof this holiday outreach effort
has your head kind of spinningright now and you're thinking
man, I would love to do that,but that seems like a lot.

(23:01):
I don't know how to take allthat on and I don't want to go
back and listen and write allthat down.
Guess what I've got you.
I have a free resource for youabout initiating and sustaining
a holiday outreach effort, astep-by-step outline of
everything you need to know, andit is all yours.

(23:22):
All you have to do is head overto our website,
schoolforschoolcounselorscom.
It'll be right there on thehomepage waiting for you to
click and grab it.
I hope that's helpful to you asyou embark on this journey.
And please remember you heardme talk about pre-scheduling all
of these efforts.

(23:43):
Through our School for SchoolCounselors Mastermind
Initiatives.
You can be a part of that.
We can help you not only build,but follow a plan that is going
to keep you from feeling likeyou're chasing your tail all
year long.
We're going to be giving you aheads up on things that are
coming up, how you can plan andprepare for them, and then we're

(24:04):
going to support you all theway through.
If that sounds like somethingyou think could be helpful to
you in your school counselingpractice, I encourage you to
head over toschoolforschoolcounselorscom
slash mastermind and learn moreabout our community of
counselors who are truly bandingtogether to transform their

(24:26):
schools.
All right, I'll be back soonwith another episode of the
School for School Counselorspodcast, so keep listening and
remember even small efforts canmake a big impact, so start
planning now and create aholiday outreach that you will
be proud of.

(24:46):
I hope you have the best week,keep being awesome and take care
.
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