With an economy that is probably in a recession, this holiday season could be a difficult time for many families across the country.

Some Ohio State student service organizations are looking to change that and make a difference for the holidays.

Serving with Honor, an organization for students in the Kuhn Honors & Scholars House, has been hosting the Giving Tree for the past three years.

Students can help a family in need by taking an ornament off the tree. Each ornament has a gift wish from an area child, which the student will then buy and wrap.

This year’s gifts will benefit school children that attend W.C. Cupe Community School. Located on Windsor Avenue, W.C. Cupe is a charter school that serves predominately lower income families.

Brittany Brose, a senior in speech and hearing science, has been involved with Serving with Honor for three years and is chair of the Child-Centered Committee, responsible for the Giving Tree.

“I love being involved with this organization because not only do I get to serve the community in which I live, but I also get to help in alerting others in the community to what sort of problems are out there and challenge those same people to think seriously about what they can do to combat these problems,” Brose said.

Acting as advocates for service and community awareness, Serving with Honor volunteers are involved year round.

In spring they hold Pinwheels for Prevention to raise awareness of child abuse, in partnership with Prevent Child Abuse Ohio.

During winter, the Hunger Banquet familiarizes students with foods purchased by those in the upper, middle and lower classes.

Serving with Honor also sponsors an Honors & Scholars Food Pantry that donates food to Neighborhood Services Inc., a local food pantry on North Fourth Street, which serves the University district.

“[Honors & Scholars] Food Pantry is a year-long project but we try to step up the donations during the holiday months since that is when people are in the most need for food,” Brose said. “[Neighborhood Services Inc.] typically feeds over 500 people a month but due to the economic situation many people find themselves in, they have now been feeding over 900 people a month.”

Food donation boxes are located at MarketPlace, the Kuhn Honors & Scholars House and Buckeye Express on South campus. Donations will be accepted through the end of the quarter.

Another student organization, the SERV Team (Students Engaged in Responsible Volunteering), is hosting its Third Annual RED Party Dec. 6 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Kuhn Honors & Scholars House.

Attendees are encouraged to wear red and donate $4 to the Columbus AIDS Task Force. The event will include guest speakers from Camp Sunrise – a camp that serves children and families affected by HIV/AIDS, the Student Wellness Center and Columbus AIDS Task Force. The evening will end with a candlelight vigil in honor of the estimated 33 million people in the world living with HIV/AIDS.

Ravi Gupta, a junior in molecular genetics and political science, is the co-chair for this year’s RED Party and said he has been enjoying the past eight months he has spent being involved with The SERV Team.

“Spending time with people harboring similar interests to my own, planning service events, discussing social injustices in our society and how to address them and relaxing with all the members of the team are some of the best times I have,” Gupta said.

Events like the RED Party are a necessary way to fight back, Gupta said.

“AIDS is a problem internationally, but at the same time it is also a problem in the U.S.,” Gupta said. “The issue hits especially close to home when we take into consideration the stigma that is associated with the disease in the U.S. We feel that by holding this event we can bring some of these issues to light. We hope to increase the public’s knowledge about the disease, what is being done and how to help and get involved.”

Jamila Williams can be reached at [email protected].