Students in residence at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) raised over $2300 for a Prince George charity last weekend—double the amount they have raised in previous years. Yesterday, they awarded their donation to The Fire Pit in downtown Prince George.

Since residence opened for UNBC students in 1995, the Residence Council has held an annual Charity Semi-Formal. It is a tradition that defines itself by giving back. It’s an event organized by students, for students, but benefits a Prince George charity. Past community recipients of the donation have included Youth around Prince George (YAP) and AIMHI.

This year, the students chose to donate their funds to The Fire Pit, a drop-in centre for people living with HIV/AIDS, which is sponsored by Positive Living North.

“We chose the Fire Pit by vote because of the good work they do with so little funding. They have to stretch their limited budget to feed nearly 1000 people a week as they usually get about 200 drop-ins a day,” explains Residence Council President Kealy MacFarlane. “We felt that their efforts deserved this donation.”

UNBC has a dedicated Residence Life team who create leadership and experiential learning opportunities for students, which differ from those received in the classroom. They work to educate student residents via events and programming in six major areas: Social, political/economic, educational, recreational, cultural, and wellness.

“We provide students the opportunity to discuss and engage in topics that hopefully create good habits and participative learners,” says Residence Life Coordinator, Robert Giardino. “The leadership experience they received by organizing this event compliments the formal education they receive from the University: they work as a team, manage a budget, book the hall, write letters to possible donors, book security, contact public transit, hire DJs, market and sell tickets—it’s a massive undertaking in real-life education.”

Students presented their cheque to The Fire Pit staff yesterday and received a tour of the facility.