The gift of giving – student enlists help to brighten children’s holidays

The holidays are approaching, and Amanda Vigil knows there is nothing better than the feeling that comes with putting a smile on someone’s face during the holiday season. Vigil, a University Studies major in business, embodies what it means to be a giver. She finds joy in projecting happiness onto others, and wants to extend the opportunity to everyone else.

From now until Dec. 14, Vigil will be accepting holiday cards to distribute at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) at the medical center in Houston. Her goal is to give 1,000 cards.

Vigil has been distributing cards there every holiday season for the past 11 years. “I was born with a cleft lip and palate and have had roughly 12 surgeries on my mouth and face since the day I was born, 21 years ago,” Vigil said. As a 10-year-old in the hospital, she received countless cards from strangers wishing her a happy holiday. Since then, she has made holiday cards every year in the hopes that the children in the hospital will smile the same way she did.

For the past five years, Vigil has enlisted the help of her friends, family, and fellow Aggies to help with the cause. “My goal this year is to deliver 1,000 cards,” Vigil said. “I am confident that I will not only reach that goal (of 1,000 cards), but surpass it.”

She has instituted a few rules regarding the cards:

• No candy, since many children are on restrictive diets and can not have sweets
• No glitter glue (it doesn’t always dry fully and is messy)
• Small toys such as pencils, erasers, and stickers, are accepted
• No envelope is required
• No signature stating who the card is from is required, though many people like to write that the cards came from “Texas A&M students, professors, etc.”

To donate a card or get more information about the program, contact Vigil at amanda2778@tamu.edu.