The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) has pledged to match donations up to $12,000 for Giving Tuesday this year. Leading up to December 3—Giving Tuesday—individuals and organizations can make donations that will go to the Erasing Barriers to Education emergency student-assistance fund at Camosun. The college has set a goal of $25,000 in donations this year; according to a Camosun College Instagram post from today, they have raised $18,910 so far.
CCSS executive director Michel Turcotte says the CCSS is excited about where the funds are going.
“The college has had a Giving Tuesday campaign before, except the money was directed to bursaries,” he says. “This year, we’re excited with the prospect that the funds that would be raised would go to another fund that would assist students in times of need.”
If students need to access the fund, they can begin by going to the college’s Office of Student Support, says Turcotte.
“Like with all funds, there’s criteria that one should have to fall into, but this one’s a little different than the [Emergency Student Aid fund], where the government helps set the criteria,” says Turcotte.
Turcotte says that international students are not eligible for that fund, which consists of money raised by the CCSS and matched by the provincial government, and is held by Camosun’s Financial Aid and Awards office. (International students do have access to a separate emergency fund, the Belcum Foundation Emergency Fund.)
“We don’t distinguish between members of the Camosun College Student Society who are international students or those who are domestic,” says Turcotte. “They all pay the same fee [to the CCSS]. It doesn’t come tagged.”
Turcotte says he has not seen what the requirements are for students who wish to access the Erasing Barriers to Education fund, but that the Office of Student Support is the place to start. But two of the things the CCSS asked about before it agreed to match donations was if this would be a more flexible fund and if it would be available to all students. And if the CCSS ends up matching the entire $12,000, Turcotte says that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.
“The CCSS would be very happy to pay the full $12,000,” he says, “because that would mean that there’d be a fairly substantial fund there to help students who are having a crisis.”