Adopt-A-Future… A Gift-Raising Scavenger Hunt
The Adopt-A-Future… program of the STEM Gift Drive encourages scavenger-hunt shopping adventures for families, teams, clubs, businesses — you choose a STEM career path and find toys, games, and books for middle and high school level students who would be interested in that profession.
Our primary gift drive starts on November 1st and runs for about six weeks. We can take gifts all year, or you can collect gifts all year and then donate them during the giving season.
You can also select one or more flyers below and use them as scrolls for a Giving Tree during the holiday season.
- Select a STEM Career
- Shop for high-quality STEM toys, games, and books that would support a young person interested in that profession.
- Collect all year, or design a multi-part project for your team: fundraising, brainstorming gifts, shopping & donating
- If you’re doing an in-person collection, you could decorate a box with images related to the STEM career you are focusing on.
- Donate through the Amazon Wish List or drop-off in person gifts at one of our drop-off locations or events.
Here are some flyers you can use for various professions – just click on the image and download the PDF to print or email. If you choose a profession not on this list, let us know and we will make a flyer and add it.
For example, an organization focused on environmental issues might choose a “climate scientist”, a robotics club might choose a “Robotics Engineer”, or an animal rescue group might choose “Veterinarian” or Zoologist”. What STEM careers support the business, group, or organization you’re a part of?
Adopt A Future … FAQ’s
If you have questions, reach out to us at STEMGiftDrive@gmail.com or 407-608-9242
How do we know what gifts would be appropriate?
The “Adopt A Future” program is a fun game to help teams and individuals engage and create a thoughtful group activity around giving to the STEM Gift Drive. It’s not a strict rule or guideline. All of the gifts will benefit young people in our community – so you can’t go wrong!
Is it just for Middle & High School levels?
That’s our focus – in many gift drives, the older kids often get left out. However, our charity beneficiary serves young people of all ages, so if you want to donate something for a younger innovator, too, we would welcome your gifts.
How do we donate?
You can use the Amazon Wish List to donate items online or the Donate money link if you’re doing a fundraiser only.
You can collect and donate physical gifts that can be dropped off at one of our locations or events, or at our Elfing Day event.
Do we have to register our team?
No – this is a framework intended to help teams have fun with the gift drive. However, if you let us know and send us photos, we would love to feature your team or business on our social media.
How much money should we raise?
For fundraising we give the guideline that $25 is equivalent to one STEM gift – that’s just a midline cost – some gifts cost hundreds of dollars, others much less. If you donate $100, we would count that as four STEM gifts.
Do we have to do this?
No way! You can donate however you would like – we just wanted to provide a fun structure for groups. There are many other ideas – like picking one of the four (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) areas and focusing on gifts in that area. Sometimes having a focus helps, because STEM is so broad. If you come up with other ideas, please let us know! 🙂
You can also just choose a gift that you think would be meaningful – or maybe something that you think would have inspired you when you were young.