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• “We try to provide UB with single mothers because they’re the ones who need the most help, especially during the holidays.”

  Jerome Wright

  Director, Back to Basics Outreach Ministries

By LAUREN NEWKIRK MAYNARD

Published: December 22, 2011

With a mouth full of Christmas cookie, Jayvieon Edwards, 2, squeezed a package festooned with teddy bears, labeled “From Santa.” His mother, Days’ya Evens, warned him not to open it—yet. “You have to wait four more days,” she said, hugging her week-old younger son, Jay-kari, who was fast asleep amid the commotion in the community room of Allen Hall, South Campus.

Evens and nine other local families took part in a holiday celebration on Wednesday for UB’s annual Adopt-a-Family drive, where UB employees purchase toys, clothing and household items for needy families throughout Buffalo.

Adopt-a-Family was launched three years ago by the Office of Community Relations and has been a bright spot for predominantly single-mother households. Families are recommended for the program by local faith-based organizations and human services agencies.

“We try to provide UB with single mothers because they’re the ones who need the most help, especially during the holidays,” said Jerome Wright, director of Back to Basics Outreach Ministries, a Buffalo agency that provides a variety of assistance services, from substance abuse counseling to food pantries and youth programs.

Wright, who grew up in a single-mother home, added that many of the adoptees are found through the family court system. “This is a way to bring hope and some Christmas magic back for the moms, to help them feel like a little kid again,” he said.

Kevina Lett, who lives in Buffalo’s Fruit Belt neighborhood, has three biological children and recently adopted three of her cousin’s kids after several years of providing them with a home. The kids were in school, so she came to the event without telling them so they’d be surprised come Christmas morning. “I want to get everyone something, but it can be a struggle,” Lett said quietly. “This will help a lot.”

Back to Basics joined Group Ministries Inc., Gloria J. Parks Community Center and Women and Children’s Hospital in the effort, helping UB neighborhood outreach coordinator Linwood Roberts and Community Relations intern Tae Cerutti match one or two families with interested UB departments, depending on the size and interest of each group.

UB elves included Student Affairs, Career Services, the Office of Faculty Affairs, Office of the Provost, University Communications, University Police, the Office of Community Relations and Government Relations, the School of Dental Medicine (Business Operations and CARES) and the Office of the President.

Years ago, Eileen Collins, business operations manager in the UB dental clinics, was herself a single mother struggling to make the holidays special for her son. “His elementary school came through for us, so I wanted to do this for someone else,” she said. This being her second time adopting through UB, she noticed that more of this year’s gift requests were for basics: food, underwear and shoes.

“There are so many families out there who need help, it’s overwhelming,” Wright said. “We’ll keep sending them to you as long as you can take them.”

Sally Bethea, whose family was adopted by Collins’ group, expected to pick up one gift. Instead, she took home a sleigh’s worth of presents for her and her 17-year-old daughter. “I just can’t believe it,” she said over and over. “It’s just a wonderful thing.”