Several departments and student organizations are doing acts of kindness to bring out the holiday spirit.

This time of year, groups often develop their own service projects to help those in need. Some have adopted families, collected toys for children or arranged a trip abroad to help out the less fortunate.

Some members of Rescue Childhood, which raises awareness about violence against children, are spending eight days of winter break in the Dominican Republic to build a shelter for homeless children.

The organization has done previous fund-raisers throughout the semester to help raise the $29,000 needed for its construction.

The shelter will be for "street kids," 6- to 18-year-old children who often have no home and stuffer from sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis. The children are often in a poor mental state and are malnourished, said Ashley Waddell, president of the organization.

"These children are in need of a shelter because there will be no rehabilitation if they don't have a safe place to live in," Waddell said

The kinesiology department has gathered faculty, staff, alumni, graduate and undergraduate students to adopt seven needy families for the holidays.

Most people in the department purchased gifts on the families' wish lists or donated money for more gifts. Others donated daily necessities, such as toilet paper and trash cans. This is the kinesiology department's second year sponsoring families for the holidays. Because last year's project was so successful, the department added more families.

"Last year we sponsored a mother and child, but we ended up getting enough gifts for about five families," said Kenyan Cattell, kinesiology department staff assistant.

Yesterday, kinesiology volunteers got together in Rec Hall to wrap all the gifts. They will soon bring the presents to the families.

Student groups are also using the holidays as a time to help the community. The undergraduate office of admissions and Lion Scouts, a group of student representatives to prospective Penn Staters, are collecting toys for foster children with Toys for Tots. From the beginning of December until yesterday, they had filled two large buckets with toys.

This is Lion Scouts' first community service project, and the group is happy with the outcome, said Beth Teague, one of the project's organizers.

"It met all our expectations because it was very easy to get involved in, since they don't have to walk anywhere to drop off the toys."