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Steven Noble
Editor, Internal Publications
p. 403.440.5692
e-mail: snoble@mtroyal.ca

Fred Cheney
Media Relations Officer
p. 403.440.5195
e-mail: fcheney@mtroyal.ca

 

"At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. ... We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices."

— Charles Dickens , A Christmas Carol

Across campus, faculty and staff at Mount Royal University are joining together to raise money and donations for students, their families and others who are in need during the holiday season.

Many of these initiatives are raising funds for Season of Caring, the annual campaign by the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University.

Others have raised donations that will brighten the Yuletide for people throughout the city, and still others are part of year-round efforts to make life a little easier for those in need.

Face Time showcases some of the many generous initiatives being undertaken by Mount Royal students, staff and faculty this year.

Department of Human Resources and Payroll / Employee Services “Secret Santa” has long been a Christmas tradition for these two departments, but this year, they decided to break with that tradition. “We thought, rather than spending money on little treats and goodies for ourselves, we would instead like to do something to share our good fortune with those who are less fortunate,” says Ruth Ens, office supervisor with the Department of Human Resources. They chose to participate in Operation Christmas Child, a program that sends shoeboxes filled with toys, gifts, school supplies and hygiene items to children in need in developing countries. Human Resources and Payroll / Employee Services donated enough items to fill 25 shoeboxes as well as $175 in cash donations to cover shipping the boxes around the world. As well, 10 staff members volunteered to help sort and check the boxes before they were shipped. “It was a totally awesome and humbling experience,” Ens says. “For many of the children, the shoebox will be the only gift they will get.”

Financial Services Student Society


For the third year, this group of nearly one dozen third-year Financial Services students has raised money for Connections Counselling, an agency that works with people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

This year, the Society set themselves a goal: to raise $400. Thanks to a generous donation of 15 boxes of mandarin oranges from the Cochrane IGA, the Society sold oranges for spare change. They also set up a donations jar.

In just three days, the Financial Services Student Society doubled their goal, raising over $800 in cash as well as a donation from Scotiabank that enabled them to buy $150 in Christmas gifts.

“I think we were all quite surprised about doubling our goal,” says Nicole Rumley, one of the students involved in the Society.

“It makes me feel good to know that, with such a small time commitment from the members of our society, we were able to help at least two families have a better Christmas.”

Career Services Career Services has an active Social Committee and, for the third consecutive year, the Committee has encouraged their department to adopt a student family through the Wish Tree program. In fact, the Committee issued a challenge: raise more than the record 300 lbs of food they raised last year. After the final tally, Career Services more than met the the challenge raising 429lbs of food. As well, Career Services raised $355 in cash that went towards buying gifts for the family — everything from gift wrap and tape, to GI Joe action figures, to a skateboard, helmet and protective gear, to a Walmart gift card. Some staff donated items such as a purse and a gift card for Co-op. “Our department is in constant contact with Mount Royal students year-round, and we are familiar with the struggles that students often go through that run past their academic lives,” says Chad Wilson, who heads up the department’s Social Committee. “These initiatives are just a nice way for us to give back to the Mount Royal student population on a different, more personal level.” This generosity of spirit extends year-round, because the Social Committee encourages Career Services staff to bring in a food bank donation or make a small cash donation if they wish to dress casually on Fridays.

Faculty of Continuing Education & Extension

When the Faculty of Continuing Education & Extension held their annual Faculty Christmas lunch on Dec. 10, they invited staff to bring along a non-perishable food item or personal hygiene item in support of Season of Caring.During the lunch, diners at each table were asked to build an Inukshuk-inspired centerpiece using only their donations.

When, at the end of the lunch, the centrepieces were carefully taken apart, they filled five donation boxes, which were delivered to the Peer Support Centre by volunteers from the Transitional Vocational Program, which is part of the Faculty of Continuing Education & Extension.

“It was important to us to encourage these donations because we had the Season of Caring boxes in our various areas but noticed that the donations were sparse,” says Karen McCarthy, writer and editor with the Faculty.

“We all believe it is important to give back to our community and that it is important to support those close to home, so Season of Caring was a perfect choice.

“The staff lunch gave us the opportunity to raise awareness of Season of Caring and a reason and a deadline to bring items in. It gave us the opportunity to have some fun while being charitable.”

External Relations Back in 1907, Emily Spencer Kerby — wife of Mount Royal’s first principal, George Kerby — began a fundraising campaign to help young Calgary women who couldn’t find housing. Her successful campaign led to the foundation of the local chapter of the Young Women’s Christian Association. Just over 100 years later, External Relations is continuing Mount Royal’s connections with the YWCA by raising money for the women’s shelter. Marketing Communications Associate Andrea Katz invited Pamila Fonseka, associate director of fund development at the YWCA, to come in and talk about the YWCA and to help identify what the biggest fundraising need was. The answer: hold a breakfast food drive. It generated a bulging donations box of non-perishable food items plus $272 in cash. External Relations plans to continue raising funds for the YWCA throughout the year. “It kind of tugs on your heartstrings a bit when you think how easily someone you know could be in need of the YWCA’s services,” Katz says. “I think we can all rally behind a range of fundraising initiatives throughout the year and see how we can make a difference as a team.”

Bissett School of Business

Every year, the Bissett School of Business Social Committee organizes a Holiday Bistro. In addition to putting faculty and staff in the festive spirit, the Bistro includes a raffle.

Faculty and staff are invited to donate prizes for the raffle — and to buy tickets for those prizes, which this year ranged from Flames tickets to luggage to a hand-crafted table runner.

The highly-successful raffle raised $1,210, which has been given to the Season of Caring campaign.

“Our main objective is to help students in need over the Christmas season,” says Shawnee Armstrong, a member of the Bissett Social Committee who was instrumental in planning the Bistro.

“This raffle focuses on the spirit of giving and sharing with others.”

Cougars Care Mount Royal University Cougars’ athletic teams showed just how much they care over the past month, collecting food and clothing donations for a Season of Caring foundation. For the second straight year, Cougar student-athletes have led their own drive to collect donations for the needy, an important initiative, says volleyball student-athlete Katie Droppo. "The experience gained is a valued step for each of us as individuals as we learn to empathize, communicate and make decisions by being involved in the community,” says Droppo. Unlike your traditional holiday food drive, the Cougars hamper challenge pits all ten varsity teams against one another, to see who can collect the most canned goods and clothing donations. Last season, Cougar student-athletes collected over 170 items for people in need. The winning team of the inaugural challenge was the Cougars women’s hockey team who collected an impressive 55 items on their way to victory, a title they plan on keeping says forward Sharina Filion. “Last Christmas, we had the whole team on board collecting goods and I thought we did a pretty good job. "This season, we are looking to collect even more. For us, it’s about making a difference, no matter how big or how small, we know we are positively affecting somebody’s Christmas and that’s what’s important to us.” The Cougars’ hamper challenge was initiated out of the Athletics department’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) which is a committee made up of student-athletes who are looked upon as leaders on their respective teams. The SAAC committee provides valuable insight into the student-athlete experience, helping making decisions around policies and procedures for all Cougars’ athletes, as well as also looking to make a difference through various community service initiatives including the Cougars’ hamper challenge, as well as their C is for Cougars elementary school reading program. Though the winning team has yet to be determined, everybody taking part in this year’s drive comes out on top.

Faculty of Communication Studies

When Jeremy Berry lived in downtown Victoria, his eyes were opened to the reality of homelessness.

After moving to Calgary, Berry — an assistant professor of public relations in Mount Royal’s Faculty of Communication Studies — started looking for ways to help the more than 4,000 people that the City of Calgary estimates are homeless in this city.

He discovered Homeless Partners, a non-profit, self-funded program run entirely by volunteers in partnership with the staff at shelters where the program is offered.

Each year, Homeless Partners creates a Christmas Wish List, which invites people in the community to listen to the stories of their homeless neighbours and send personalized gifts and messages to them through their shelters.

“Service to the community is important all year round,” says Berry, who has been volunteering his public relations skills to Homeless Partners for the past year. “It’s even more important at Christmas. If anyone is interested in donating a gift, visit www.homelesspartners.com."

— Nancy Cope, Dec. 17, 2009 with files from Kyle Henry