KUCHING – Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus’ Business student Mark Liao Jun understands not only the importance of academic excellence, but also how he and other students can contribute and make a difference to society.
Liao, along with members of Swinburne Sarawak’s Student Leadership & Volunteer Program (SLVP) collaborated with Save our Strays (SoS) to organise a donation drive to help the non-profit organisation monetize their cause.
The SLVP’s S.O.S Donation Drive collected a total of RM1800 and two bags of pet food during the five-day fund-raising.
“As a leadership program, this collaboration is one of the ways our students form a connections with organisation outside of Swinburne Sarawak,” said Mark, a final year Human Resource Management student.
Through this project, we hope to promote the development of a highly emphatic culture where individuals acknowledge the need for community engagement. More importantly, it gives members the opportunity to enhance their social, managerial and idea developmental skills, he added.
Rahf ElMahdi – we hope this initiative put a spotlight on the struggle animals face due to lack of care or illness.
Rahf ElMahdi, a Foundation student from Egypt, is happy to be involved in the fund-raising.
“Everyone should be aware that it is not only humans that need help, but also animals. This initiative put the spotlight on the struggle animals face either as a result of lack of care from owners or illnesses the stray faces,” said Rahf.
For Christabel Gomez, she was initially apprehensive that the collaboration would garner enough support. “But I was surprised that the donation drive turned out really well, even in that short span of time,” said the first year Accounting and Finance student.
I am thankful to be given the opportunity to be part of this event, she added. “We collected more than we hoped and the support we received from staff and students were overwhelming.”
For this project, a total of 15 SLVP members were involved, said Mark. “They were tasked to design the publicity materials, man the booth during the fund-raising and oversee to back-of-the-house preparations,” he said.
In order to ensure success of the project and to raise funds for future projects, SLVP also organised a burger sale during the university’s Club Recruitment drive where for each burger sold, RM1 were donated to S.O.S.
SLVP believes volunteering is a good way to make new friends while enhancing one’s practical experience. We believe leaders are made through volunteerism, said Liao.
Swinburne Sarawak’s Student Leadership & Volunteers Program aims to provide students the opportunity to be involved in events organised university-wide as well as in the community. SLVP currently have more than 300 registered members serving various initiatives and activities.