With hopes of bringing some holiday cheer to the kids at Children's Hospital of Michigan, One Step Ahead has been accepting donations of shoe boxes, wrapping paper, and, of course, gifts for an effort they've dubbed "Christmas in a Box." One Step Ahead is a student club benefitting non-traditional students, or students over the age of twenty-one who are either returning to college or attending for the first time.

I spoke with the president of One Step Ahead, Nancy Croft, who said of their effort, "[The gifts] give [the kids] activities to do while they're actually in their hospital beds and have limited mobility." Some of the gifts which have been highly sought-after, and which have been donated in droves, include coloring and activity books, crayons and colored pencils, and puzzles.

"A lot of the other clubs have volunteered to help us," Nancy said, "particularly the Honors students that have come in and used some of their community service time to help with the project." A day before my interview with Nancy I counted myself among the busy elves working toward the goal of fifty boxes wrapped and packed with gifts. However, at the time of our interview Nancy told me, "Right now we have approximately sixty-five boxes ready to go. We also have some donations that are coming in on Monday."

The gifts will be delivered to Children's Hospital on Friday, December 10th at 10:00am. Gifts not used for Christmas in a Box will be donated to the Community Service Club's collection for Covenant House Michigan, which provides shelter and support programs for homeless youth.

Students interested in joining One Step Ahead or participating in any of their upcoming events can contact Nancy at (734) 716-0519 or visit the Student Activities Office.