Hey engineers! I hope everyone is having an absolutely dandy term so far, and that with the term winding down you’re not too bogged down with deadlines because I know I am! I am currently writing this in the Orifice during WEC, shout out to all the awesome diWECtors and volunteers!
I am going to discuss an initiative I started a year ago when I was just starting my term as VP External that I would like to see continue. That involves some help from all of you! When I ran for VP External, one of my platform points was to have a charitable organization selected by the students, towards which all funds raised by A- and B-Societies over the course of a year would go. Previously, the charities that EngSoc would donate to with funds raised through various charity initiatives — including Charity Grilled Cheese/Pancakes, Charity Bottle Drive, Purplepalooza, and Change for Change week — would be selected by the charities directors on a termly basis. In the Spring 2014 term, I put out a form to get suggestions from students of both A- and B-Society members on which charity they would like to see EngSoc donate to. From these suggestions, my team of charities directors and myself put together a survey, including a blurb on each of the charities as well as the websites of each organization, to ensure voters could make an informed decision on which organization they would like to support. The nomination and voting process was left open to all members of A- and B-Societies, since the charity selected would be receiving our donations for 12 consecutive months, and the charitable initiatives from both societies would be in support of the organization voted on.
The reasons I wanted this initiative when starting my term: it is important that students have a say in the cause that their donations are contributing to; committing to donate to a charity for three consecutive terms will make a big difference for one cause over three consecutive terms as opposed to smaller donations to three different charities; and consistency in the charity initiatives between the Societies.
I have discussed this initiative with the current VP External of B Society, Kieran Broekhoven, who plans to continue this initiative for the upcoming three terms. Until July 24 at 11:59 PM, members of A-Society and B-Society can nominate local or international charitable organizations that will later be voted on to be the EngSoc Charity for the Fall 2015, Winter 2016, and Spring 2016 terms. If there are any charities that you feel have an important cause and would like to see EngSoc donate to for the upcoming year, look for a link in your emails, or on the EngSoc Facebook page to nominate a charity and tell us about it!
If you have any ideas, comments, or concerns, please feel free to email me at vpexternal.a@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca. Take care and I hope you all have a lovely final month of school!
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