Public urged to help Algoma U students on Giving Tuesday

With the cost of tuition and books and the hard work involved to achieve academic success, university or college is tough.

This is especially true for those living and studying away from their home town or native country.

Then there are all those everyday expenses adding to those cares, such as accommodation, food and transportation.

With these challenges in mind, Algoma University set up a fund to help students in need.

Giving Tuesday - an international event which takes place annually after the American Thanksgiving holiday - is designed to encourage people to donate to good causes after the materialistic spending of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

This marks the first year in which Algoma University has taken part in the annual Giving Tuesday initiative.

Those willing to donate funds for students in need may do so through a special online portal.

Funds raised go to the Algoma University Student Relief Fund.     

“The student emergency fund that we had during COVID back in 2020 has been depleted, completely. The students definitely accessed those funds and we’ve now needed to start looking at the future and where some holes are for students when they are in vulnerable situations,” said Giselle Chiarello, Algoma University manager of advancement.

The needs of food and accommodation are of course the biggest. 

While the university seeks to provide students with on and off campus housing, the public is urged to make financial donations online for Algoma students in need of food.

Algoma recently held a Halloween campus tour in which donations were made to the school’s food bank, but those donations won’t last all winter and there is a need for fresh vegetables, eggs and bread, Chiarello said.

“A lot of times when the pantry doesn’t have as much, they may be able to come to us and say they need some support from the student relief fund to build the pantry up again.”

Transportation costs are also a major need for many students.

A Sault Ste. Marie Transit Services student bus pass for one semester is $193.80.

That may not sound like much compared to employed people filling up a vehicle with fuel more than once a month, but it’s a significant amount of money for a student.  

Then there are technology needs.

“Sometimes when international students first come to Sault Ste. Marie, they don’t have the technology they require, such as a laptop,” Chiarello said.

Finding a part time job will cover many non-academic costs for students, but they need help while looking for a job or are between part time jobs.

Many students work part time, but may experience a job loss due to their work hours conflicting with academic commitments, meaning they need help while looking for another job.

“After that job loss, while they’re looking for another job opportunity they may be very vulnerable in having to pay their rent so they can access the student relief fund for a month or two until they find another placement,” Chiarello said.

“We want to be able to provide some sort of support to them because unexpected things happen in life.”

Even though Giving Tuesday takes place tomorrow, generous donors can give starting today, Chiarello said.

“They can give today. I’ve had people that already started to give last week. In fact they were giving throughout the weekend. Tomorrow’s the big awareness day.”

“Students really needed support from the emergency fund during the pandemic, completely due to job losses. They couldn’t work. The community was so incredibly supportive so we’re hoping to be able to reach back again and perhaps encourage new individuals to give, or new businesses, that have never given to the university. This might be an opportunity for them to get engaged and give support.”

Giving to post secondary students is a worthwhile investment in the community, Chiarello said.

“The economic impact that comes from the university for the community is incredible, and with the growth that the university is having right now there’s a lot of attention on the good work that we’re doing so hopefully that encourages others to give.”

Algoma University has set no specific fundraising goal for Giving Tuesday but the public and businesses are encouraged to give what they can.

“Every dollar counts,” Chiarello said.