| Week promotes awareness of Chinese orphans (3/08) | | Print | |
| Written by Lauren Quirarte | |
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The Lowell Student Association is donating over $3,000 for the nonprofit community organization Love Without Boundaries, which was raised during the second annual Social Awareness Week held from March 10 through March 14. According to Student Body Council community liaison and The Lowell reporter Sanyee Yuan, who coordinated Social Awareness Week, LSA decided to collaborate with Love Without Boundaries, a worldwide group of volunteers who provide medical care, foster care and educational opportunities to orphans in China, in order to focus on a specific organization. “Instead of focusing squarely on a social injustice in the news, like last year’s LSA did with Darfur Awareness, this year we hoped to not only generate student interest in supporting this meaningful cause, but also to illustrate to the student body the significance of such volunteer organizations based in the community,” Yuan said. “We wanted the students to know that they can make a difference in the world around them.” The goal that LSA had at the beginning of the week was for every Lowell student to donate $1. “We started Social Awareness Week out with the goal of raising $2,632 because we have 2,632 students at Lowell,” Yuan said. “While reg running, the officers emphasized that if every student at Lowell contributed $1, we would be able to raise almost $3,000 for Love Without Boundaries. We wanted students to know that they could make a difference, whether they contributed 50 cents or 5 dollars.” Student government officers visited registries to collect donations, raffled off gift cards and an iPod and gave Love Without Boundaries buttons to people who donated at least $1. In addition, they also held the Love Without Boundaries dance on Friday, March 14, with all proceeds benefiting the cause. According to Yuan, LSA tried many unique ways to generate publicity for Social Awareness Week. One of those methods was carrying picket signs advertising the cause. “I thought the picket signs were very innovative, because whenever I walked down the hall with my sign, I would see a lot of eyes turning,” Yuan said. Not only did LSA reach their goal, they surpassed it. As of March 14, SBC had raised $3,464. According to student activities director and social studies teacher Steve Schmidt, they have not finished counting all the donations. Yuan hoped that the success of the cause would inspire others. “The support that we received this year for Social Awareness Week was resounding and just goes to show how strong we are when we come together. The feeling is that of realizing that we have made what seemed impossible, possible,” she said. The LSA will decide what services the Lowell donations will fund. Funds can be earmarked for medical care, foster care or education. LSA will receive updates and pictures of the individuals that benefit from the donation. LSA kicked off the week with two assemblies on Monday, March 10. Amy Eldridge, the founder of Love Without Boundaries, flew in from Oklahoma to share inspirational stories about the children whose lives the organization has changed. She shared their philosophy, “Every Child Counts” and expressed how touched she felt by the outpouring of student support. Last year, the Lowell community raised a total of $754 for Darfur Awareness Week, which the student government donated to the Save Darfur Coalition. This year, SBC raised almost six times last year’s amount. “The outcome of Social Awareness Week truly reflects how well student government, as a whole, cooperated and came together, how much time and effort they were willing to dedicate to Social Awareness Week and how hard they worked towards ensuring its success,” Yuan stated. “It is a result of teamwork.” According to Yuan, many different groups and individuals contributed to the planning of Social Awareness Week. Among these groups include the Chinese Club and paraprofessional Rodney Culver who lent their button machines and materials for the Love Without Boundaries buttons, the Lowell Dance Company who agreed to perform at the closing rally on Friday, March 14 and the chaperones who volunteered their time for the dance. |
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