Kendra Loh
Staff Writer
Union’s Residence Life team collected more than $1,500 during its S’more Giving event Nov. 6, all of which will be donated to the Regional Inter-Faith Association in Jackson for providing free meals on Thanksgiving Day.
The event took place after dark outside the Bowld Commons, where students roasted marshmallows to make s’mores and sipped hot chocolate and cider while resident directors and resident advisors counted the spare change they had collected for RIFA.
Residents of the Ayers 4 building contributed the most across campus, giving nearly $350.
Madelyn Carson, junior music major and RA for Ayers 4, said she let residents know about the event early in the semester so that they had plenty of time to start saving their change.
“We were really excited when we heard the results announced and that we won,” Carson said. “But at the end of it, we are just thankful that we can help Jackson families who cannot have a proper meal on Thanksgiving.”
Emily Georgoulis, sophomore math education major and RA for the Sullivan building, said she was pleasantly surprised at residents’ generosity when she went door to door in her building asking them to donate their spare change.
Tim Call, assistant resident director in the Heritage Complex, said the event puts students in a “giving” atmosphere before Thanksgiving and is a good way for the Union community to benefit “the outside community.”
Joshua Fern, junior nursing major and RA for the Dehoney building, said hosting the fundraiser indicates how much Union students care about the community.
Fern liked the friendly competition between residents of different buildings, he said, because it got them all together.
Elle Simmons, resident director of the Heritage Complex, said the event started out freshman-only, but last year, Residence Life opened it to all campus residents, resulting in more awareness with upperclassmen in the quads.
The goal was to “build community among all students in buildings on campus,” Simmons said, adding that the laid-back atmosphere is designed to be a time for students to “get out of the library, hang out and count some change for a good cause.”
