Students could be good givers

January 25, 2012
2 min read

Charitable Impact

Students are notorious for complaining about how “poor” we are (usually at the bar while drinking our dollars away!). So the question is – can we give? I’d give you a resounding yes. In fact, I’d argue that students are in a particularly good place to give money to charity. Why?

1. We believe in change
You just have to look around at a campus clubs day to see that some of us have retained at least a little bit of our childhood idealism. The adult “age of reason” may quickly be upon us, but for the moment saving the world is looking like a reasonable New Year’s resolution!

2. We’re exposed to issues
Every week at school I hear about something that I want to change. Usually, I forget about it (much like a disconcerting percentage of lectures!), but with just a bit of commitment and research time, it’s easy to find a charity that’s addressing the issue that sparked my interest.

For example, I’m interested in the needs of Francophone immigrants in BC. A little Chimp searching and Googling gets me a whole list of fabulous organizations I can support in a number of ways.

3. We can empathize
As we funnel money into our educations, we’re about as close as we’ll (hopefully) ever get to touching the poverty line. Admittedly, for most of us it isn’t very close at all. However, when my bank balance dwindles, it gives me pause for thought – I have a generous pay cheque on the way and have spent money on things that aren’t exactly necessities, but it so easily could be very different.

So while students might not have much money, a lot of things about our lifestyle (how we’re living and what we’re doing and learning) actually set us up to make some great charitable impact.

– SM (Chimp intern)