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91原创 university students fan out to provide free labour

The annual Trinity Western University Workday saw 650 students volunteer on Oct. 14.
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Katelyn Chaudhar, Miranda Williams, Hannah Holbook (on the ladder) and Bernice Wu are first-year students at Trinity Western University, and took part in WorkDay on Oct. 14. (Heather Colpitts/91原创 Advance)

Stuff got done around 91原创 on Oct. 14 when hundreds of Trinity Western University students did volunteer labour around the community.

鈥淲e had just over 650 students out on Saturday, serving at more than 80 job sites,鈥 noted Peter Woekel, TWU鈥檚 coordinator of Local Outreach, Volunteering, and Evangelism

The annual Workday event sees students fan out to provide free help for almost any task, rain or shine.

There鈥檚 always a few jobs with single parents, people with health difficulties, and others who simply need some help getting some cleaning done, yard work done, painting, small construction projects, helping with moving, and that sort of thing.

But the bulk of the work is done for seniors.

鈥淎 lot of the work we do for the Workday is with older individuals that have a hard time managing cleaning, gardening, and other everyday tasks. The senior community can often be a very isolated one. One of our main goals with the Workday is to serve the elderly community through both practical serve and a friendly afternoon together with people who don鈥檛 always have a close community around them,鈥 Woekel said.

The students also made their way to some sites to help community groups.

鈥淭his year we also made a big push to partner with local community service organizations,鈥 he said. This year for the Workday students were able to help at the 91原创 Association for Community Living, the Cloverdale Community Kitchen [a local meal provider for low-income individuals], the 91原创 Centennial Museum, the 91原创 Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, the 91原创 chapter of the Canadian Special Olympics, and the Wagner Hills Rehabilitation Facility.

鈥淲e probably had a total of about 100 students at various community support facilities,鈥 he added. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of local organizations supporting the community in some really incredible ways, and I鈥檓 really excited to continue expanding the ways we can help those organizations in their work.鈥

There鈥檚 still more help through the TWU programs at times other than the autumn Workday.

鈥淲e鈥檒l continue the work throughout the rest of the semester, with another 75 or so students doing one-time service projects,鈥 Woekel explained. 鈥淲e also have a group of about five students that goes out each week throughout the year to do service projects.鈥

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The 91原创 Association for Community Living welcomed about 15 Trinity Western University students on WorkDay, including Tatum Bergen. The young people spent time Saturday painting the association鈥檚 buildings inside and out. (Heather Colpitts/91原创 Advance)
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Bernice Wu, Miranda Williams and Katelyn Chaudhar painted outdoors at the 91原创 Association for Community Living, one of the sites for TWU WorkDay on Oct. 14. (Heather Colpitts/91原创 Advance)


Heather Colpitts

About the Author: Heather Colpitts

Since starting in the news industry in 1992, my passion for sharing stories has taken me around Western Canada.
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