This year, October 3 to 8, 2022, students, faculty, staff and alumni came together for UBC Sauder Gives Back, a week dedicated to partnering with local organizations and volunteering in the Vancouver community.
UBC Sauder Gives Back is a student-run initiative of the Commerce Undergraduate Society (CUS). The student organizers arranged a wide spectrum of volunteer opportunities this year, from serving snacks at a community living room in the Downtown Eastside, to packaging meals for individuals living with HIV and co-existing illnesses, and helping conduct a research project for the North Shore Women’s Centre.
The student experience at the shoreline clean-up
Thomas Kamiya is a fourth-year UBC Bachelor of Commerce student specializing in finance who volunteered at the Ocean Wise Shoreline Clean-up. He’s a member of the CUS and part of a sub-group (or “service” as they are known in the CUS) called Commerce Community.
“We all feel like the school has given us so much and has propelled us in our careers and personal lives,” says Kamiya. “It was a great opportunity to do something for our community and do something with the position that we’re in.”
As for why he decided to volunteer for the clean-up at a beach on campus, Kamiya says he was attracted to the fact that it was a chance to help the local community so close to home and a great way to work in some physical activity and time outside.
Something he didn’t anticipate was the gratitude expressed by total strangers. He says the kind comments from passersby on the beach was an unexpected highlight of the afternoon.
“There were a lot of people thanking us and saying, ‘Oh what you’re doing is so great,’” recalls Kamiya. “Being able to see our actions making an impact in someone’s life was really fulfilling.”
Please visit the Sauder School of Business website to read about all the groups who participated in Sauder Gives Back this year.
Through Strategy 20: Co-ordinated Engagement, UBC is committed to working with diverse partners to listen, learn and develop shared values for effective engagement, and to reinforce a culture of reciprocity.