Students often get a bad rap, especially when events like the Undie 500 turn into booze-fuelled chaos. So this morning, it's great to be able to report a positive student story - the Herald reports:
First, the power of nature. Now the power of Facebook.
Students are using their social networking skills to pull together a volunteer army of more than 1300 to help out the shaken Christchurch community.
An entrepreneurial Canterbury University student created a Facebook event page that brought 300 students, carrying shovels and wearing gumboots, on to the streets of Halswell and Hoon Hay ready to help affected residents yesterday.
The event page, Student Volunteer Base for Earthquake Clean Up, has 1356 people willing to help and the number is climbing rapidly as 5000 invitations are awaiting students to reply.
University student Sam Johnson created the Facebook page to gather the support of students during their extra week of holidays.
"We have a spare week to do some good for the community. It's the perfect opportunity to come out and do something decent," he said.
Participating students have gone out into the 'burbs, door-knocked, and offered help by way of manual labour to those who need it. We reckon that's fantatstic. We sent the link to our darling daughter yesterday, and hope that she took the hint!
It's easy to dismiss students, and the young in general, as the "me first" generation, who are only interested in what's in it for them. Sam Johnson and his many Facebook friends have broken that mould.
3 comments:
Imagine how many more there would be if the lefty ones joined in as well.
PDM, those ones would still be setting up the union to negotiate employment contracts meal breaks and holidays and then they would divert their efforts to helping tripple dip jim's mayoral campaign.
Or they are still in bed.
Looking at that photograph, I am reminded of the very wise president of a highly successful athletics club in a medium sized town fifty years ago. His mantra was "bring the girls, and the boys will bring themselves".
Women, in particular, are ready volunteers where it matters. Their enthusiasm for involvement is restrained only by a "too-honest" feeling that others,(read males) are better qualified to lead.
This mis-placed modesty can easily be dispelled given early encouragement. Women seldom tackle any task with an ulterior motive.
But I digress.
The old adage "Cometh the hour, commeth the man" - ignore gender specifics - applies to all in the community, and young people (even students) respond to obvious need as readily as anybody else.
Adversity is the lifeblood of the soul, and this photo shows people who are responding to a need which, at the same time, will enhance their own personal growth.
Good on them.
kurt
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