Ever heard of celebrating Christmas in July? The Village of Winston Park, a care facility for seniors, had a small event for their residents on July 8th, 2011. A small group of University of Waterloo undergraduate engineers volunteered their time early that Saturday morning by helping set up the decorations, running the event stands and serving food. The celebrations involved cheering Christmas music, decorations in red and green, and even Santa Claus showed up to set the mood.
Overall, the event was successful, with many seniors having a good time and enjoying their ice cream, cupcakes and the various vendors. The barbequed sausages were a great success, with the proceeds adding to the fundraising effort for the Alzheimer Society’s Walk for Memories, bringing the total fundraising to over seven hundred dollars.
Our engineering students ended up surprising the staff at the Village of Winston Park for being engineering students. No, we are not in a program that requires a certain number of volunteer hours or even pursuing a degree related to health services. We are merely students interested in getting involved in our community.
For the students that volunteered, the event was an opportunity to give back to the community and improve the engineering image perceived by the Waterloo community. As a combined effort from the outreach director and the charities director of the Engineering Society, the event is the start of a new effort to get our name out there as caring students.
Next time you find yourself with a bit of extra free time, consider sharing it with others in the community! It doesn’t take that long to get involved: just get a group of friends together or initiate a new directorship through the Engineering Society. The list of benefits is long, not just for those you choose to help, but also for you. The more you get involved, the more people you meet. Organizing events can even be amazing resume fillers. Engineering Students don’t just work hard and party hard, we’re also there at the crack of dawn the next day to change the world for society.
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