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In early January, a campus nurse noticed a student walking across the Pembroke campus with very red ears; early signs of frostbite. She reached out to Ellen Gallant, Recruitment and Financial Aid Officer in the Community and Student Affairs Department in Pembroke, who quickly jumped into action.

“We realized our international students did not have clothes that were warm enough for the local cold weather, so we reached out to our local community asking for donations of warm clothes,” said Gallant. “We have had a great response. Students, staff and community members have donated jackets, socks, scarves, hats, gloves, mitts and snow pants. People have even donated knitted sweaters and other handmade items.”

Gallant set up a rack in the Student Commons with a “Take What You Need” sign. To date, she estimates at least 30 students from China and India have been outfitted with proper cold-weather gear. She believes the College has received over $3,000 in donations. “I actually had someone order socks from Amazon sent to me at the College as a donation. It’s been really rewarding.”

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The team at Algonquin College Residence welcomed back students last week for the 2022 Winter Term.

Residence staff just under 200 students move into a 1000-person residence this January, remarkably high number in part due to a growing waitlist as students delayed their move-in from last fall. To connect with new student residents and share on-campus resources information, the Residence Life team held a welcome ceremony before AC Day 1 – the first for a winter semester.

“We wanted to make sure that we had an opportunity for the students to get to know the Residence Life team, including their RAs and management team,” says Brittanie Walker-Reid, Residence Life Manager. “We also shared opportunities for engaging in the community virtually, whether it’s the college or residence community, in terms of programming and support resources we have available for them.”

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For two weeks beginning Jan. 18, learners and faculty from the culinary programs will be preparing lunches for the Shepherds of Good Hope soup kitchen. With the closure of in-person dining due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, learners from the Contemporary Production Methods course will have the opportunity to prepare meals on a mass scale while supporting members of the Ottawa community.

“There are four [Contemporary Production Methods] classes and each one will produce 150 meals of one item,” says Chef Cory Haskins, Chair, Culinary Arts at the School of Hospitality and Tourism. “These students generally don’t get to cook for 150 portions per class, so this is an opportunity for them to really experience quantity cooking and the ability to cook for people in need.”

The Shepherds of Good Hope is one of the largest not-for-profit organizations in Ottawa for people experiencing homelessness. The need for their soup kitchen’s daily community lunch has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. When staffing and volunteer shortages hit critical lows due to the Omicron variant, Shepherds called its Champions Table network into action. Dave Donaldson, former dean of the School of Business at Algonquin College, connected with Julie Beauchamp, current dean of the School of Business and School of Hospitality, who then shared the appeal with the culinary team.

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