Confederation College broke records this year for their annual Stock the Bank and United Way campaigns.
Their employee United Way campaign raised $46,120, a 15 per cent increase from 2009; it’s a record number, said Mark Wright, director of resource development.
"The college is a big part of the community and the community is a big part of the college so there’s that spirit of giving within the staff," he said.
The college staff and students also brought in the highest amount of money their annual food bank campaign has seen; the Student Union of Confederation College Inc. reported $13,750 in monetary contributions and 3,500 donated non-perishable food items.
"We increased over last year by about 17 per cent," said SUCCI president Ryan West. "We were down about 200 or 300 food items, but it more than made up for it in terms of money."
It’s vital to keep the food bank stocked because over the past two years, usage has increased 100 per cent, said West. In the 2009-10 school year, the college food bank was accessed 369 times and more than $7,000 was provided in food vouchers.
West added while they encourage students to donate, they don’t want to put any extra burdens on them by pressuring them with extra costs so the donations mostly come from staff.
However, each year the business students hold an Enterprise Challenge where each class creates a company and sells a product; those profits are donated to the food bank. This year the challenge raised $4,284.
