Over 300 toys donated to children of Crafton students enrolled in EOPS, CalWORKS, CARE programs

The children of many Crafton Hills College (CHC) students will have a snugglier and happier holiday season thanks to hundreds of generous donations to a toy drive organized by San Bernardino-based Design West Engineering.

More than 300 toys were donated to the drive, set up to benefit the children of students in Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS), Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) and California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) programs at both CHC and San Bernardino Valley College. According to Crafton’s program director Dr. Rejoice Chavira, the students enrolled in these programs at the College are financially disadvantaged and holiday gifts for their children are not something that most of them would be able to provide.

“The reality is for our students the holidays are difficult because they are financially strapped. They have to make a decision with their limited resources – which is most important, food or toys?” Chavira explained.

The toy drive was the result of donations from Design West Engineering’s own staff and its client and industry partners and through an allocated budget for holiday gift purchases. According to Jeremy Richard, an Associate at Design West Engineering, the company has traditionally set aside funds to purchase holiday gifts for clients and would visit with them near the end of the year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the firm felt it would be a better use of its funds to purchase toys for the children of students at CHC.

“Part of this project for us (Design West Engineering) illustrates one cornerstone of our brand focus: the four corners of customer service. These are Communication, Creativity, Collaboration and Care. We have engaged in other community projects highlighting each of the other concepts. This project is tied to care,” he said. “San Bernardino is the most underserved population in the Inland Empire. And we want to use this project to give something back. We design buildings, but we want our staff to be excited about what our buildings do – they serve communities.”

Shannon Stewart, Marketing and Business Development Manager at Design West Engineering, agreed. “Part of our mission is to build better communities where we live and work,” she said. “We want to raise awareness of who we are and the needs of our community.”

The generosity of Design West Engineering was serendipitous. According to CHC’s Director of Institutional Advancement Michelle Riggs, “Psychology Club students normally hold a toy drive and host a holiday party for the children of students enrolled in the EOPS, CARE and CalWorks programs. Because all of our students are learning remotely this semester, they were not able to do so.” The toys were delivered to CHC the week before Thanksgiving.

“This effort by Design West Engineering is tremendous and is a clear demonstration of what it means to be a partner to your community,” said CHC President Dr. Kevin Horan.