The holidays are a time for giving and this holiday season the Inter-Club Council and Contra Costa College helped give back to the community through care packages made from donations by students and staff on campus.

Donations from the campus community were used to create the care packages that consisted of basic items such as beanies, blankets, flashlights, socks and hygiene products.

Student Life coordinator Charles Ramirez said the care packages were a way to give back to the community.

“We are student-focused, but we wanted to give back to the community and students. The care package connection is a great way for everyone in the community to help each other out,” Ramirez said.

The donations were distributed to local community partners Rubicon, GRIP and Bay Area Rescue Mission on Wednesday.

This year there were plenty of donations. Ramirez said the turnout for donations was great.

“We did a good job promoting this on social media and through online news websites like Rich City News and it helped out a lot. Word got out there and we got a good amount of donations,” Ramirez said.

ASU President Richard Ramirez said they used a portion of their budget to buy the items for the care packages as well.

“We knew donations could only take us so far, so we used a budget of $1,000,” the ASU president said.

The budget was enough to allow the formulation of care packages to distribute to four organizations.

Richard Ramirez said, “With our budget, we were able to create about 100 care packages. In total, we will donate about 110 care packages evenly to all four organizations.”

He said he hopes this can spark a relationship between the organizations and the college that can include volunteer work from students along with donations in the future.

“We plan to stay in touch with the organizations so we can maintain a relationship with them into the future. That will help us continue drives like this — especially during this time of year when conditions get difficult.”

Bay Area Rescue Mission Program Specialist Steve Lee said the care packages, along with all donations around this time of year, go a very long way for those in need.

Lee said, “Donations really restore hope for people in need. They restore hope and faith in their community and it shows them someone cares. It’s a bright spot in a difficult time.”

CCC and the Bay Area Rescue Mission have an extensive history of partnership.

Lee said he recalls the school’s history with the nonprofit organization and also encourages everyone to help out with donations.

“Contra Costa has been great with helping out. We have been teaming up with the college since the late 80s and have had generous people help out on their behalf,” Lee said. “We still encourage anyone who can help with a simple donation to do so.”