Students Get Involved in CAS Gift Drive

Local communicators and Fanshawe College students team up to brighten holiday season for youth in CAS, promote ART for AIDS
 
Fanshawe College students will once again be helping the local chapter of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) to host their annual holiday luncheon and gift drive for the Children's Aid Society.

The event is a win-win-win. IABC is able to carry out its mandate to provide professional development and networking opportunties and strengthen the field of communications; students from Fanshawe's Corporate Communication and Public Relations program get hands-on experience planning an event; and most importantly, young people in the care of the Childen's Aid Society (CAS) know they're not forgotten this holiday season.
 
IABC has organized the gift drive for CAS for over 20 years. Most gifts are donated from IABC members and supporters but all people are welcome and encouraged to participate in the gift drive.
 
"The generosity of IABC members and Fanshawe students continues to assist families who, without your help, may not have much to celebrate during the holiday season," says Pat Finch, Manager, Communications and Development at CAS. "Last year was a tremendous help for the CAS, with the students and IABC members raising over $1,000 in gifts and cash donations. Every gift and donation has an impact on children and families in our community," Finch adds.

Gifts are to be appropriate for youth between the ages of 12 and 18 and should be donated unwrapped. To register to purchase a gift, contact Sarah Hughes at S_Hughes46574@fanshaweonline.ca. Please provide your full name, mailing address, contact phone number, email and indicate if the gift is for a male or a female. Gifts can be dropped off at the Holiday Luncheon.

The Holiday Luncheon is November 27, 2008, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at One Restaurant & Lounge.The luncheon features a festive turkey buffet, networking and a presentation by J.P. Bervoets, the Youth and Development Coordinator for ART for AIDS. The cost is $25 for students and IABC members and $35 for non-members. Online payment and registration is required. Visit london.iabc.com.

ART for AIDS International is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness for those most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, specifically the women and children of sub-Saharan Africa. Hendrikus Bervoets, J.P.'s father and the founder of ART for AIDS, has traveled to various countries including South Africa and Mozambique to help facilitate workshops with young people and has seen the transformative power this process has with children suffering as a result of poverty or orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS.