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Karamjot looking forward to learning Christmas carols (6 photos)

International students takes part in Great Gingerbread Block Build to help Habitat for Humanity

For Karamjot Singh, a Sault College Public Relations and Event Management (PEM) student, 2019 has been a big learning experience.

Singh, who hails from India, was part of the team who helped organize this year’s PEM Great Gingerbread Block Build fundraiser, funds from the event going to the next Habitat for Humanity Sault Ste. Marie and Area (HFHSSM) house build.

The event was held at Rome’s Independent Grocer Saturday. 

Already a chemical engineer, Singh is taking the PEM program to enrich his networking skills.

“I did a lot of research on gingerbread, watched a lot of videos,” Karamjot told SooToday, this coming Christmas to be his first in Canada.

“I’m excited about Christmas. I’ve already received a lot of invitations from people for Christmas parties. I will be learning Christmas carols for the first time. I love being in Canada.”

Of the 30 students enrolled in the PEM program this year, 28 are international students, the majority of them coming from India.

“They’ve really gravitated toward the event and they’ve really embraced helping Sault Ste. Marie. We’re really proud of them,” said Natasha DeActis, Sault College PEM instructor.

“Last year we did this for the Soup Kitchen. Every year we pick a different not-for-profit organization in Sault Ste. Marie to raise funds for them. This is our first year for the Sault’s Habitat for Humanity office,” DeActis said.

PEM students broke up into teams of five, each team assigned to hold an event to raise funds for HFHSSM, Saturday’s Great Gingerbread Block Build the culmination of their fundraising campaign/assignment, with a view to raise $2,500 for Habitat through the block build itself (through raising pledges), $5,000 overall from the time they launched their campaign.

“The students do everything, from going out into the public and asking for sponsorships, making relationships with different vendors, like Rome’s, along with media writing and promoting the event through social media. Each team had to pay $100 to join and collect pledges on top of that for Habitat,” DeActis said.

“It’s been a fantastic learning experience,” smiled Kaitlynn Cruikshank, a domestic PEM student.

“I’ve been a part of hosting events before but none of us have planned an event from the ground up, and that’s what we’ve done here. It’s been seven weeks of working on this event, it’s been a lot of work coordinating the teams, reaching out to sponsors...to learn and give back to Habitat for Humanity at the same time is fantastic. Rome’s has been a great sponsor for us. They provided the gingerbread for us.”

“It hones their skills, taking what they’ve learned in the classroom and bring it into the real world. That’s the best way you can teach public relations and event management, and events like this, getting their faces out into the community, is going to help them get jobs in their field,” DeActis said.

Before Saturday’s Great Gingerbread Block Build, PEM students held a bake sale, garage sale, a Santa Claus soiree at Habitat and a volleyball tournament at Sault College to raise funds.

The Sault’s Downtown Association (DTA) and Century 21 Real Estate fielded teams for the gingerbread event, other teams consisting of groups of family and friends.

Based on the decision of three judges drawn from the community, ‘The Ginger Five,’ a family team, took first place, winning a $500 advertising spot gift from SooToday (which, team members said, will go to HFHSSM) and a $100 gift certificate from Color Your World.

DTA took the People’s Choice Award at the Great Gingerbread Block Build, winning a one night stay at the Quality Inn and a $25 gift certificate for Stackburger.


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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