By Rachael Bentley
Students on campus may have noticed a new addition to the Student Center circle this past week: an empty storage pod covered in posters that promote a new campus initiative called Competition For A Cause.
The project is only in its second year and was started by SGA Senator Simms Sonet last fall. Last year, the group of volunteers were able to raise enough donations to keep the Spanish Speaking Center in New Britain from having empty shelves during Thanksgiving.
The first time winners of Competition For A Cause were the Bimolecular Science Department, the CFO office and the Psychology Club.
Unlike last year, the competition is not focused on pitting the different departments and groups on campus against each other.
“We aren’t doing the inter-university competition like we did last year where it’s administration vs. faculty vs. students,” Sonet explained. “We’re just doing CCSU on a whole versus New Britain. We’re competing against each other, using that rivalry and tension that has grown around the Belvedere neighborhood, hoping to put all of that energy into doing something good for the community.”
“The city’s fire departments, police departments, the mayoral office, YMCA, Community Central, local businesses, they all participate,” Sonet added.
The massive pod placed in the middle of campus is Sonets’ way of making sure that students can’t push the idea of hunger out of their minds during this holiday season. With posters covering the pod from top-t0-bottom and decorated recycle bins placed all over campus, Sonet believes it will be impossible for students to ignore.
Various groups on campus are getting involved with the competition, including the CFO office, the math department, the nursing department and many other clubs on campus.
“There are a lot of other drives going on on-campus for things like clothing and toiletries, so we are letting them use our pod and bins to store the donations as well. Everything is welcome,” Sonet said.
The volunteers had a rough start to their campaign last year when a blizzard pushed back their schedule, leaving them with only six or seven days to physically collect all of the donations. However, despite the bad weather, the group was able to raise almost 1,500 on campus and 2,000 in the city of New Britain, which was much more than Sonet and his group had ever wished for.
With more time and more publicity, those involved believe they will be able to raise over 4,000 donation for this year to be distributed to local New Britain shelters and donation centers. According to Sonet, the food will be given to the local shelters most in need, as decided by city officials.
Sonet hopes that these efforts will send a direct message to the neighboring community. “We want to show that it is a very small percentage of students that knock over trashcans, piss on lawns, and that the majority of CCSU students are actually very giving,” he said. “That’s why we called this called ‘Competition for a Cause’. We may lose, we may win, but in the end we’re benefiting a good cause.”