Value Village : A Successful Event for a Worthy Cause

Well, it’s been an eventful couple of days at here at Redeemer University College. Last Thursday I had the pleasure of perusing the Value Village Rummage sale that took place in the school’s board room. Many students may have noticed the posters advertising the event or spotted the friendly reminders in the Time Out a few weeks prior to the rummage sale. I must say, I was quite impressed by the amount of goods that were up for grabs. T-shirts, sweaters, jeans, belts, bags, dresses, shoes, scarves! And all of this for under five dollars. What a steal!

I myself came away with a yellow garden -- a purchase that I was quite delighted with. I wore it the next day and felt a bit strange when I realized that I probably passed the cardigan’s former owner at least once in the hallway. At first I was a bit hesitant about wearing it for that very reason, which is ridiculous really – especially since the old owner donated that garment in hopes of selling it to another student. Well old owner I have one word for you: thanks! I now have a bright springy addition to my otherwise very wintry wardrobe. But enough about me and more about the cause.

All of the Value Village proceeds went to an organization called Invisible Children. By all means, I would encourage everybody to look into this organization. The work they do is incredible! In short, Invisible Children is a grassroots movement that aims to spread awareness about the war affected youth in Northern Uganda. It also seeks to raise money, to rebuild war-torn schools and to provide scholarships to African youth. Most importantly, it is a movement that strives to stop the conflict in Uganda and end the abduction of children for use as child soldiers. The Value Village Sale was a concrete and practical way to support the efforts of this campaign. I was really impressed by the initiative that the organizers (Catriona L. McHardy an Candace Lagerwerf) took to help the cause. For anyone else who was involved – thank you for the time and energy that you put in!

Well I’m off to start a few English papers. As third year nears completion, the ominous tidal wave of big assignments come rolling in. I have a feeling that many of my future blog entries will include my growing disbelief in how fast time flies! For now, I think I’ll make a conscious effort to enjoy all of the little things that come with being a third year student! Bye for now!

Another ‘Job Well Done’ for Redeemer

When it comes to the act of giving, Redeemer doesn’t only meet expectations, it surpasses them.

This past week, from March 8 – 12, Redeemer students, staff and faculty took part in a clothing drive. Participants were asked to bring in clothes (old clothes or clothes that they no longer wore, but were still in good condition) from Monday – Wednesday, and to come and purchase new clothes for their wardrobe on Thursday – Friday. This endeavor was referred to as Value Village: Redeemer Style, and far surpassed any expectations that were made before the week began.

After two days of an intense search for the “good stuff”, Redeemer raised exactly $500.00 through the sale to be sent to Invisible Children, and are sending more than half of the clothes received by donation to a local charity in Hamilton (yet to be decided). Well done, Redeemer! You can be proud of your efforts and contributions!

This aspect of Redeemer is one that cannot be overlooked. I have come to understand that Redeemer’s capacity to “give back” goes beyond anything that I have ever experienced. Over the last year, functions and events have been held to raise money and resources for those in the world that are desperately in need. There have been book-drives, spaghetti dinners, concerts, clothing drives, and many more events. Redeemer has proven to be exceptionally generous, always willing to lend a hand and to step up to the plate when there is a need. When I consider the Haitian earthquake that occurred back in January, I am amazed at Redeemer’s efforts to get involved. Within days, we had a plan of action. There were functions planned, discussions regarding the devastating event, prayer circles set up, and plans to hold events to raise funds necessary for the rebuilding of Haiti. I am in awe by Redeemer’s willingness to help and to give back, after we have been so richly blessed.

Redeemer may not be extremely large, but we have the hearts to make incredible change in the world. And I think that Redeemer is doing just that – we are not hiding within its walls, but we are stepping out, stepping up to the plate, and stepping up in ways that seem impossible for a school our size. We can be proud of the school that Redeemer is and thank God for all He has blessed us with, so that we might be able to give back. Whether a part of Redeemer’s Social Justice Team, or simply by tossing an old book, shirt, or five dollar bill in a basket, Redeemer students, staff and faculty have and will continue in their efforts to show Christ’s love in a hurting world.

To this I say, well done, Redeemer. You continue to amaze me!

Burgers & Nachos

Today was actually the most beautiful day of the year yet! It was so nice to be outside. It was great to see everyone getting out their lawn chairs and sitting on their porches, either to socialize or read in the sun. I was able to enjoy the weather especially today because my friend and I were going door-to-door letting people know about the clothing drive for Invisible Children that’s going on this week. Everyone seems so supportive of things like that and its great to see the support of Redeemer to so many important things. Last year I remember someone shaving their head to raise money for War Child. When people take initiative around here they are definitely backed by the Redeemer community!

So my cooking partner and I are planning to make burgers and nachos for dinner this week to celebrate the great weather, and also just because we are craving burgers and nachos. We shop at the Market on Thursday nights for a dorm of 5 and this week our budget is a little bit tighter so hopefully we can get everything we need. This past month we were a little extravagant in our spending so this month we’re getting back on budget. It’s a great way to prepare for living off campus next year!

I’m living in Augustine Hall right now and there is a new dorm idea that Student Life has tried out. Instead of having an HA live with us (since I’m in second year) we have two “floor HAs.” I’m really enjoying it because our dorm is more responsible for things that go on in our dorm but we still have someone there to get advice and help from if we need it. We also have floor parties and activities to bring all 4 dorms together, last time we watched a movie and had cheesecake! Everyone says Augustine Hall is more secluded but I don’t think that’s true anymore.

Tonight I’m working at I.T. Help Desk. It’s a place in the library where people come if they have technical questions about the internet, their lap top or printing something off in the labs. It’s nice because after 8pm, its pretty quiet in the library and I get a chance to work on some homework- and there is always lots of that to do!

“It’s just that time of the year…”

It’s just that time of the year… what a phrase, I found myself saying it several times today and can see myself saying it throughout the rest of the semester. Between the demands of school, friends and family its tough to be a university student but I know the pay off and I’m very lucky to be a student at Redeemer. I’m looking at my agenda and this will be a busy week, between my work to prep for the clothing drive, my midterm on Friday and the readings between that, not to mention our dorm social on Wednesday night!

Today I found myself not completely there in class, not to say that Aristotle and the play The Wild Duck aren’t interesting, its just that my mind is more concerned with other things. Tomorrow my dorm will be going out for some much-needed dorm bonding, we’ve all been so busy so we decided to get off campus and chat about anything but school. Then my friend and I have this clothing drive we are planning to take place next week, it’s a lot of prep work; today at Student Life Micah helped us make 800 business cards to put in everyone’s mailbox on Thursday. We’re doing the clothing drive as a fundraiser for an organization called Invisible Children. A few months ago we had a book drive and it was pretty crazy.

I have a CEW team meeting tonight, which is part of Redeemer’s once-a-month church service called Church in the Box (CITB). We do the “random” aspect of the service: dancing, skits, visual art, etc. Tonight we should be pulling together our part of the service, I shouldn’t say what it is though, most people like the surprise element. It’ll be great though!

Tonight I plan to start studying for that lovely calculus midterm on Friday, your first test with a professor is always difficult because you’re not sure how they go about testing. At least after one test with a professor you know what to expect, so for this one I plan on knowing everything- we’ll see if that actually happens. It’s kind of like how I was going to get all my French homework done this afternoon but instead spent my time talking with my roommate. I will head to the library tonight to make sure I don’t get distracted.