University Celebrates Season of Giving Through Service
With Thanksgiving just days away, and the holidays approaching, the entire Rider community has been spreading the cheer and the spirit of giving through a number of service projects to benefit individual and families in the local community.
In order to make some Mercer County families’ Thanksgiving a little brighter, students, organizations, faculty and staff departments put together nearly 200 baskets as part of Campus Life’s annual Thanksgiving Basket Drive.
“We fed 188 families,” Laura Green, graduate assistant in Campus Life, said. “It’s definitely great to see that organizations were able to feed so many families this year.”
It was a University-wide effort, as more than 30 student volunteers helped sort through the baskets on Wednesday, November 19, and delivered the baskets to Trenton-based charitable efforts such as Womanspace, Inc., Phoebe’s Pantry, Mill Hill Child and Family Developmental Center and Homefront, the following morning. Contributors included residence halls, the President’s Office, Campus Life, Greek Life and Graduate Education, as well as individual students and faculty/staff members. Poyda Residence Hall donated the most contributions, filling 10 baskets.
Campus Life also received a number of individual monetary donations. This year, a number of Rider alumni working at Merrill Lynch’s Princeton branch donated $50 toward the drive. “It was really great to have community outreach,” Green said.
All of the leftover turkeys and pies, plus 10 full baskets of canned food collected during the annual Thanksgiving Celebration – A Reason to Celebrate, were delivered to Grace Baptist Church and El Centro in Trenton.
During Hunger and Homelessness Week, from November 17 through November 21, students on both campuses participated in activities geared toward the social issues, including making sandwiches and fleece blankets to give out to the homeless in New York City as part of Midnight Run, an outreach project held the first Wednesday of every month.
For the last 20 years, the University has served dinner for the area homeless at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Trenton. Rider continued the tradition this year, as numerous students, faculty and staff volunteered their time, including members from the men's baseball and women's soccer teams. Volunteers donated money and cookies, set up tables, greeted people, served meals and cleaned up throughout the morning. ARAMARK, Rider’s food service provider, prepared the meal and donated the paper goods and utensils.
One of the event organizers, Helen Carroll, executive assistant to the vice president for Finance, said she received an e-mail from one of the volunteers relating a story about the warmth and hospitality of the Rider volunteers. It reflected a gratitude Carroll herself shared.
“I just want to thank everyone who volunteered and gave their time. We also received a lot of donations,” Carroll said. “It was very worthwhile. I think Loaves and Fishes and the guests appreciated our time.”
Those still looking for ways to spread holiday cheer are encouraged to pick up a special ornament from Rider’s Giving Trees, located at the BLC Information Desk and Gill Memorial Chapel on the Lawrenceville campus or the Student Center at the Princeton campus.
Rider’s Catholic Campus Ministry, Association of Commuting Students and Westminster’s Student Government Association are sponsoring the annual campus-wide project from now until Saturday, December 6.
The annual outreach project aims to brighten the days of more than 100 children, ages 6 months to 5 years, from the Mill Hill Child and Family Developmental Center in Trenton. Each ornament has a child’s name, age and sex. All age-appropriate toys must be returned, with an ornament tag on the gift, to the Gill Chapel foyer by Saturday, December 6. On Sunday, December 7, volunteers will sort out the toys and prepare them for delivery. For more information, please e-mail Susan Zabrocky at zabrocky@rider.edu.
