December means finals, stress and last-minute parties before it's time to travel home. However, for students involved in many of AU's clubs and organizations, the holiday season also means charity.
Alexandra Perrotta, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, spent Friday afternoon selling student-made holiday cards in Mary Graydon Center. Profits benefited AU's chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
"It's a nice way to make money," Perrotta said. "Everyone uses holiday cards. We're helping fund a great organization."
Next to Perrota, Jessica Solomon, a freshman in the School of International Service, and Jessica Cincanon, a junior in SIS, were collecting change for the Polaris Project, a nonprofit geared to fighting slavery and sex trafficking in the world.
"It's been going pretty well," Solomon said, pointing at a cup filled with pennies, quarters and dollar bills.
Students involved in Facilitating Leadership in Youth have their own approach to the holiday season. They held a screening of the film "Elf" for children from Barry Farms Public Housing in Anacostia on Dec. 4. FLY member Sunny Shin said the event was a good way to relax with the children the organization worked with all semester.
Student organizations have also placed donation boxes around campus. Bakarda, a Filipino-oriented group, in conjunction with Books for Barrios, placed boxes for donations of toys, clothes, books and other goods. The donations will be shipped to needy children in the Philippines.
Religious organizations are also getting involved in the holiday giving. The Muslim Student Association is having a clothes drive for Sudan. Students can leave donations in the MSA's boxes across campus.
The Catholic Student Association is hosting a variety of events and drives for different charities and causes. On Saturday, the Catholic Choir held a Christmas concert in the Kay Spiritual Life Center, with proceeds benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, followed by a toy drive for the Salvation Army.
Also, the CSA is holding a food drive for the hungry. Students are encouraged to drop nonperishable food in the collection boxes in the Kay vestibule.
The Jewish Student Association is also holding a toy drive. Students are encouraged to donate unused toys during any of the Jewish community's Hanukkah events.
Also, on Friday the Fair Trade Student Association, the Movement for Global Justice and other student groups held an Alternative Gift Fair in Mary Graydon Center to benefit Project Hope International, the Ananda Murga Universal Relief Team, the Alternative Winter Break to Thailand group, the U.S. Campaign for Burma and other humanitarian efforts.
