The ASPLA Diary:

"Our first experiences volunteering for the Adrian’s Friends Association:
1. Filled with eagerness and excitement, we are collecting donations from the kind and generous people who responded to our campaign. Every person that came through the door brought a smile to our faces as the gift pile was getting bigger by the minute. It felt like we were all friends, because that is what friendships are based on, having a common goal – in this case, offering a little joy to those less fortunate. 

2. With patience and skill, we start to put together the bags containing a jar of homemade goods, a book with a handwritten dedication, a honey bear hand-filled with natural honey, and other surprises brought by people who signed up to act as Santa’s helpers. 
It was a busy evening filled with laughter, teamwork, planning for the big event and steaming cups of tea that evoked the feeling of Christmas. Because we all worked together we were very productive, evidence of which were the 100 packages arranged neatly in boxes, waiting to be delivered to the patients in the Hematology section of the Colentina hospital. 

3. Wednesday, December 6th 2017, 8 AM: We are gathering everyone for the most engaging charity campaign we have had the honor to take part in. The whole team was ready to be “A Santa Claus for Everyone” for the day. We start by loading the 200 gift bags in cars (in the meantime, we had collected 100 more bags of sweets and “cozonac”), which will then head towards the hospital where they will be distributed to each patient. 
The team has to improvise, as the halls of the hospital are way more crowded than we had anticipated and we need to put the final touches on the packages that have to find their recipient. 

With a heavy heart, we have to leave the rest of the team who are just getting ready to begin their Santa’s Helpers’ duties, because the echoes of our college classroom are beckoning us.”

Marina and Sanziana ❤️
The #volunteer4ASPLA Team