With the holiday season approaching, organizations have been the warm and crackling fire of campus, opening their doors for students to connect campus through a community effort focused on festivity and giving back.
To spread cheer, encourage student involvement and de-stress the campus environment before finals, University of Rhode Island clubs and organizations hosted holiday events, gatherings and fundraisers.
The Student Athletic Advisory Committee made efforts toward community betterment in a holiday donation, which occurred in the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving break, event coordinator Alex Arbogast said. The committee set up donation boxes in each of the 15 university athletic team locker rooms. Each team was encouraged by SAAC to contribute to the select category their donation box supported, which varied based on the size of the sports team.
“Teams that were bigger and we thought would have more participation, we gave them the broader categories with things [Jonnycake Center For Hope] asked for,“ Arbogast said.
Arbogast said the committee set up a donation box in the track and field locker room where he practices. Over Thanksgiving break, he decided to pick up some old clothes from home and drop them off to donate..
The group will do a collection on Tuesday where everything is dropped off at the Jonnycake Center, a charity and social service organization, Arbogast said. All of the goods will be distributed by the center the following day.
“Our student-athlete body does a great job engaging in community in times when people are desperately in need,” Arbogast said. “I love being able to coordinate this and raise engagement and participation to help better the community.”
SAAC decided to continue working with the Jonnycake Center after a successful experience last year, Abogast said.
Similarly, another organization, the Cape Verdean Students Association, decided to bring their holiday event back for a second year, according to the CVSA president, Paulo Mendes. The winter social event, “Winter Wonderland,” took place in Hardge forum on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and included snacks, games and music.
“We did a lot more [last year], but we thought it didn’t work as well because there was too much going on,” Mendes said. “Now it’s a little simpler.”
The more relaxed event aims to bring a positive energy to the campus, which is especially needed going into finals, Mendes said.
“Really it’s a stress reliever cause finals are right around the corner, a couple of days away,” Mendes said. “It’s something for [students] to hang out with one another, have fun and decompress.”
Dozens of students dressed up at the event to broaden the festivity, which was the main goal of the gathering, according to Mendes. Some notable costumes included a decked-out Santa, a trio of reindeer and the Grinch.
The Powerful, Independent, Notoriously, Knowledgeable Women organization brought festivity to campus through a holiday celebration on Wednesday in the Memorial Union from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. They sold $5 24-ounce tumblers filled with candy and stuffed animals.
The organization, which promotes and encourages higher education among multicultural women, wanted to hold an event that would give students an opportunity to purchase a cheap and affordable present for their families, according to second-year student and women’s awareness chair Haley Fontaine.
All money raised at the event will go toward the Unsung Heroine Awards in the spring semester, Fontaine said. The awards highlight female professors and faculty who have made an impact in the community.
“It’s not just myself that’s picking them, [PINK Women] are nominating [faculty and staff] and stating why they have made an impact,” Fontaine said. “We definitely pride ourselves in helping our community and making it stronger for individuals who might not have a voice.”
In addition to its holiday celebration in the Memorial Union, PINK Women held a pet supply drive for local shelters, according to Fontaine. The drive ended collections on Wednesday.