Henrico Schools employees make generous donation to county’s Christmas Mother program

HCPS Central Office employees opted to donate to the holiday program rather than participate in an annual office gift exchange.

December 16, 2015; 9:15 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

In a generous act of giving during the holiday season, employees at Henrico County Schools headquarters building elected to give to the Henrico Christmas Mother campaign, rather than participate in an office gift exchange.

On Tuesday morning, Henrico Christmas Mother Beverly Cocke accepted a ceremonial check for their efforts from HCPS Superintendent Patrick Kinlaw in the amount of $3,926.86 on behalf of the employees. The amount included gifts and cash from administrative and support personnel.

The donations included a sleigh full of toys from HCPS instructional specialists and the Human Resources Department, two bicycles from the Department of School Nutrition, $373.50 from the Department of Exceptional Education, raised through a department auction, and $2,324 from a first-ever buildingwide online auction of staff-donated goods and services.

“Helping one another, loving one another, speaks to the very heart of the Henrico Christmas Mother program but it also speaks to the very heart of the HCPS family,” said Cocke, who is also the Brookland District representative on the Henrico School Board. “So on behalf of the Henrico Christmas Mother Council, I want to thank you all for what you do for our recipients at the warehouse, but also what you do for all of our county children. We wish you all a joyous and happy holiday.”

First-graders from Highland Springs Elementary School sang holiday songs at the event. The Henrico Christmas Mother campaign, founded in 1942, provides food, new clothes, toys, books and other gift items to Henrico families with children, seniors and disabled adults during the holiday season.

Photo: HCPS