For more than 30 years, TURN Community Services—one of Utah’s largest providers of disability services—has supported and worked with Utah’s Labor of Love program, and since 2011, has taken on the project, full time. Labor of Love is an annual gifting program that ensures Christmas is brighter for adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the state.
At its heart, Labor of Love is simple but powerful. Community members, support coordinators, and caregivers submit names and profiles of adults and children who would like help at Christmastime. Volunteers then receive wish lists, go shopping, wrap the gifts, and deliver them in time for the holidays. Every present is purchased with donated funds, and every delivery is made possible by the commitment of volunteers.
“We provide Christmas for people with disabilities and we open that up to the community,” explained Alyssa DeHart, TURN’s Director of Development and Communication. “People are able to submit names and profiles of people who would like help. It’s entirely funded by donations and volunteers who shop, wrap and then deliver the presents as well.
The program serves a unique and often overlooked group. As Connie Poulson, TURN’s Director of Behavior Supports, notes:
“This is a very valuable and needed service. Most of these folks who receive gifts from Labor of Love don’t have families, or if they do, their families can’t afford presents. I don’t think there are many other companies who think about the disability population at Christmastime. Only a small percentage of the recipients are our own TURN clients, and the rest mostly come recommended to us from other organizations or support coordinators.
Longtime volunteers say they return each year because they see firsthand the difference it makes.
“We have volunteers that come year after year; some have participated for more than 20 years,” TURN clinical mental health counselorCynthia Proctor said. “They bring more friends and extended family members each year because they find it so rewarding to help these people who often have no family members left to help with their basic needs and holiday celebrations. They know they are extending critical help to this overlooked and underserved part of the community whose needs are very real, extensive, and still often invisible.”
In 2024, Labor of Love raised $16,767 and provided gifts for 199 people, with the help of 124 volunteers from many individuals and companies such as Mountain West, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, and Teva.
This year, TURN has set its most ambitious goal yet: to raise $30,000. With continued community support, the program will bring joy, dignity, and belonging to hundreds of Utahns with disabilities who might otherwise be forgotten during the holiday season.
For more information, or to get involved with Labor of Love, visit: turncommunityservices.org/events/labor-of-love/
