The holidays are traditionally a time of giving. Recent university events have sparked the joy of sharing by donating to the less fortunate in the
Columbus area.
Throughout the month of November, the Community Service and Student Programs office hosted the annual Coat Drive. This event gives the Capital community the opportunity to donate new or gently used coats to the less fortunate for the upcoming winter season.
In addition to coats, this was the first year that blankets and linens were also collected. Around 200 items were collected, including 32 coats, 60 blankets, 84 pieces of linen (sheets, towels, etc.) and a large collection of clothing.
Donations were given to The Open Shelter and Faith Mission in Columbus.
“We try to pick agencies that we know will do the most good,” Carla Daniels, assistant director of CSSP, said. “The coats are given away, not sold, and we volunteer at these sites so students can see how they [the coats] are being utilized.”
The coat, blanket, and linen drive concluded with the Tree Lighting ceremony Nov. 30.
Another recent charity event on campus was Homelessness Awareness Week. This week ran from Nov.. 28 – Dec. 2 and was sponsored by Pi Phi Epsilon.
On Monday, the women of Pi Phi stood by the fountains collecting donations and holding signs with homelessness statistics. In just one day they were able to raise $300. Pi Phi service co-chairs Mia Huttleston and Stephanie Walther said raising money was not even the plan.
“We wanted to raise awareness and debunk myths about homelessness,” Huttleston said. “The donation cups were a last minute idea.”
Throughout the week, members of the sorority also sat in the P.O. Lobby collecting toiletry items and donations. By the end of the week, they collected over $400 and a storage tote full of toiletry products, containing at least 100 toothbrushes. These products were also donated to The Open Shelter of Columbus.
“We’re really grateful for how everyone on campus responded to us,” Walther said. “We weren’t expecting so much support and we’re really excited for future projects.”
Pi Phi hosted this week with the help of their philanthropy, the Love Alliance. The sorority is considered an action group for the Alliance and receives a different social justice to focus on and raise awareness of every couple months.
The Alliance provides them with guidelines and ideas so that they can first become educated on the issue and then act on campus to share what they have learned.
At the beginning of this semester they worked to raise awareness of human trafficking, and they will have several more issues to focus on in the spring semester.
