Tuesday marks the beginning of Lighting of the Lawn Kick-Off Week, a series of philanthropic efforts leading up to Lighting of the Lawn Thursday evening.
This year’s efforts will benefit the Hope House in Charlottesville
"Hope House is an organization in the Charlottesville community that is under the Monticello Community Action Agency [which works] with homeless families to help get them back on their feet," Chair of Community Engagement Lauren Russell said.
The organization provides stable housing while working with families on their finances, said Russell, a fourth-year College student.
Fundraising efforts will include t-shirt and Light Gram sales, second-year College student Bryan Solvie, a member of the event’s community outreach team, said.
There will be 300 t-shirts available for purchase Tuesday through Thursday, Solvie said, and Light Grams will be available for a $1 donation.
“The idea is that you sign up for a Light Gram, you write a nice little message to a friend, and we’ll deliver those messages to those friends, so you light up their day," Solvie said.
Russell said said she is optimistic supporting Hope House will inspire students to donate more than they would to a national organization, as the effects of the philanthropic donations will be directly visible to the University community.
"Hope House is something we can see a direct impact in," Russell said. “Members from Hope House, like the director, will be coming to Lighting of the Lawn so she can see the event we’re putting on and personally thank the students.”
Hope House is an important organization for LOTL to support, as it connects University students with the greater Charlottesville community, Lighting of the Lawn Co-Chair Sarah DeShields said.
"I really hope [LOTL] helps bring attention to Hope House...it is the holiday season so everyone is giving and asking for donations and hyping up various philanthropies,” the fourth-year College student said. “I think this is just such a great one that shouldn’t get lost within the crowd.”
This connection between the University community and the greater Charlottesville community is something committee members felt strongly about after the support the school received in the past year, Russell said.
"We want to show everyone that because we’ve been able to do so much in our own U.Va. community that we really have the power to impact the greater Charlottesville community as well," Russell said.
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