THUNDER BAY - Staff and students at Confederation College have once again embraced the holiday season, raising more than $44,000 to help students and people in need in the community.
Confederation College announced on Monday that it raised $44,600 this year as part of its annual fundraising campaign.
“It’s great. It really brings the college community together,” said Confederation College president, Kathleen Lynch. “You have not only students and staff participating, but the community gets involved as well, so everybody really supports the community here at the college so students don’t go hungry and we are also supporting the TEC Hub and the United Way.”
The total amount accounts for several initiatives, including $10,285 in support of student awards and programs at the college, $6,740 for the United Way of Thunder Bay, $19,093 for Stock the Bank, Confederation College’s emergency student fund, including the food bank, and 7,396 food items.
For the second year in a row, an option was also made available to donate to the TEC Campaign, which saw $8,478 donated that will be used for the purchase of new equipment for students in the TEC Hub.
According to Lynch, the total raised this year is on par with previous years and in the past 14 years, the emergency student fund/food bank has raised $163,520 and more than 63,000 food items.
“We don’t set a goal,” Lynch said. “We just ask people to be generous and they are every year. We are grateful that they give.”
Student Union of Confederation College president, Vignesh Viswanathan, said the donations to the student emergency fund and food bank makes a huge difference for students at this time of year.
“It’s super important because there are times when we have students coming in and they have critical situations, stress during exams and the student emergency food bank allows them to not worry about groceries for a week or two,” he said.
Last year more than 300 students utilized the food bank and Viswanathan said the student body is always willing to give and each year demonstrates the generosity of the college community.
“Every year, for the past four years, we have seen this improve and not decrease,” he said. “That is super important. That goes back to the generosity of the college and the community. This year the students stepped up too.”
But it’s not just the college community benefiting from the generosity of staff and students. United Way of Thunder Bay CEO, Albert Brulé, said collaborating with community partners like Confederation College is always important.
“It’s amazing. I was very proud to see the college community come together with faculty, staff, and students all contributing to a variety of charities, including the United Way of Thunder Bay,” he said. “Very excited to see the enthusiasm and the spirit of caring.”
The money raised for the United Way is important at this time of year, Brulé added, with the holiday season just around the corner.
“At this time in particular, we know there are many individuals, families living in poverty in Thunder Bay, so every dollar contributed, including the very generous contribution from today’s efforts here at the college will help alleviate some of the challenges faced by the community’s most vulnerable members,” he said.
