DRAPER, Utah — After a year of canceled school dances, sporting events and extracurricular activities, the group “Adopt a Utah Senior” is once again handing out gifts to seniors around the state, hoping to make their graduation just a little bit brighter.
The program was created last year after the end of the school year was essentially canceled for students.
“All of their proms and graduations and celebrations were just canceled at the very last minute,” said Susan Haueter, administrator, Adopt a Utah Senior.
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The program is based around a Facebook group where people can post pictures of their seniors and then someone in the community can “adopt” them by agreeing to bring them a special gift.
“It just exploded and there were hundreds and hundreds of posts a day. We did 4,000 seniors last year that got adopted,” Haueter said.
Haueter is so passionate about the project she’s even filed to create a nonprofit to continue this program in the future.
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“Hopefully it will grow and continue, and we can recognize these kids at this amazing time in their lives, this pivotal point where they’re about to start new adventures,” she said.
The Facebook group is accepting adoption posts through May 31.
“For the actual seniors I think that this shows them that they matter in their community, that they’re worth something, that people are taking time out of their day to recognize them,” Haueter said.
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