Student organizations team up to #givekidsachristmas
Cate Zenzen |
This Christmas season, Lipscomb University’s chapter of Collegiate 100 partnered with the Black Student Union in a toy fundraiser for the Last Minute Toy Store. LMTS is a nonprofit that provides toys for children in low-income families within the Nashville community.
Student Josiah Jordan, vice president of the Lipscomb Collegiate 100 chapter, said the clubs chose this ministry because of its past success. In 2017, over 5,400 families benefited from the work of Last Minute Toy Store, an impact Jordan wanted to be part of this year.
With their #GiveKidsAChristmas campus-wide campaign, the clubs requested donations of at least one dollar to benefit children who would otherwise go without presents this holiday. They raised a total of $400 to buy toys for LMTS. To promote the campaign, students who donated were put in a raffle to win 25% of the profits, the prize was given to freshman Schyler Jones.
With the donated funds, the Black Student Union and Collegiate 100 personally bought and delivered the toys to the Last Minute Toy Store location, where they saw first-hand the good work of the ministry.
LMTS expressed their gratitude to the clubs, emphasizing the impact their funds would have on the children and parents in Nashville.
A LMTS volunteer told the students that the low-income families of the community are “just so excited that somebody cares, and if we all cared just a little bit it would make a big difference in the big picture.”
Launched in Fall 2017, Lipscomb University’s Collegiate 100 is a young men of valor program, with a primary focus on mentorship and service. Members are exclusively male, the majority of them African American, who support the development of youth in the community that lack positive role models.
Lipscomb’s chapter of Collegiate 100 is sponsored by Reggie Blair, director of admissions; Josh Shaw, marketing videography manager; and James Bush, outreach and admissions counselor in the College of Professional Studies.
“What we hope to do through this organization is to reinforce positive images of African American males and to help the younger ones understand that it is possible to go to college,” said Blair. “Unfortunately if you are looking at demographics, African American men are the lowest as far as college degree attainment. Often, that’s a result of them not seeing examples of people who look like them actually making it.”
The Black Student Union is a student-run organization dedicated to the African American student body at Lipscomb. Through cultural and educational opportunities, the BSU hopes to engage campus-wide heritage awareness through events and service.
To watch a video on the #GiveKidsAChristmas campaign click here.
NOTE: Lipscomb University underscores that membership or participation in Collegiate 100 and the Black Student Union is not limited by sex, race or ethnicity and is open to all students regardless of sex, race or ethnicity.