This story was originally published in The Northerner’s November magazine.
As leaves fall and the weather cools, the buzzing of the holiday season also starts to make its way to campus. After the fun of October with Halloween, Hispanic Heritage Month and LGBTQ+ History Month, it is now time to settle into a more cozy season: a season of giving.
At NKU, students often get a headstart on celebrating the holiday season with Greek Life. Starting in October, Greek organizations across campus began their philanthropy fundraisers. Once November hits, though, university organizations like FUEL NKU and the Care Closet begin planning their annual Friendsgiving and prepping for winter break changes.
According to NKU Panhellenic Council President Julia Pohl, every Greek organization has at least one philanthropy they are involved
in. Every fall and spring, the organizations host events in support of their philanthropies.
Events like Pancakes with Phi Sigma Sigma or Mac n Cheese with the Kaydees are just a couple of the events organized by Greek Life last month.
Earlier this November, there were events like Spike-Out Arthritis with Alpha Omicron Pi, Dodge for a Cause with Theta Phi Alpha as well as a Chipotle fundraiser organized by NKU Panhellenic Council.
Spike-Out Arthritis was a spikeball tournament on Nov. 1 that aimed to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation. The event also consisted of a ‘pi’ contest and a pumpkin carving contest.
Dodge for a Cause on Nov. 3 was a dodgeball tournament to raise money for the NKY Emergency Shelter.
At the fundraiser through Chipotle on Nov. 6, 25% of the event sales went toward new membership scholarships for the spring semester.
As these events come to a close, there are still ways the campus is giving back to its community. FUEL’s Friendsgiving is just one of those events.
Nov. 25 marked FUEL’s seventh annual Friendsgiving event, a Thanksgiving-style meal open to any faculty, staff or student hosted in the Student Union Ballroom.
“It’s really focused on understanding that people maybe don’t have a safe home to go home to, don’t have a home at all, their home is really far away,” said FUEL NKU Program Coordinator Nick Bliven about the event.
“We want to make sure people know that they’re a part of our Norse family,” Bliven said.
FUEL typically works with Kroger to not only provide the meal, but also to give to-go bags filled with non-perishable items for people in need.
“Basically, you as a consumer would go in and shop for us, and then we’d be able to package bags together and get them out to students in need,” explained Bliven.
The coordinator said these bags have “everything besides turkey.”
Bliven said the bags typically have things like green beans, mac and cheese and potatoes.
FUEL NKU aims to provide the turkey often eaten at Thanksgiving meals at the Friendsgiving dinner, then sends home items that are more accessible to cook.
“Last year, we had nearly 300 people that were able to come and enjoy a nice meal,” said Bliven. “And we made 50 to-go bags or so.”
Starting last year, Care Closet @ NKU joined the festivities at the Friendsgiving event with a free clothing pop-up.
“We found it to be an incredible opportunity to engage with students and the community,” said Caitlin Drouillard-Ahlrichs, Care Closet program coordinator. “We are excited for this year’s event.”
Care Closet @ NKU works with sponsor Newport CARE Closet to gather cold-weather clothing all year round.
This year, the Black Faculty and Staff Association is joining in on the cause to help collect more masculine jackets, coats and sweaters, something that is often difficult to find in large quantities.
“Last year, we had about 10 tables filled with warm sweaters, shirts, pants, gloves, hats, socks, boots,” said Drouillard-Ahlrichs.
There are also typically racks “filled with jackets and coats ranging from XS to 4XL” along with the tables of cold-weather items.
In addition to the Friendsgiving event, both FUEL NKU and Care Closet @ NKU offer various other services to help students prepare for the holiday season.
On Dec. 4 from 11:30-1:30 p.m. in University Center 135, Care Closet @ NKU will host its annual “Sweata Weatha” program.
“We set aside a number of sweaters to be available for this additional event,” said Drouillard-Ahlrichs. “Just in case students are unable to attend Friendsgiving.”
The organization will also send out an email before winter break providing students with information on alternative places to find warm clothing while the university is closed. According to Drouillard-Ahlrichs, the Care Closet website will also be updated with this information.
Once the university opens after the winter break, Care Closet @ NKU’s hours of operation will return to M-F, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. When students return, there will be small items like gloves, hats, scarves and socks available in partnership with NKU Staff Congress, according to Drouillard-Ahlrichs.
FUEL also works to provide students with access to their services as hours of operation and winter break changes can make accessibility difficult.
“One thing that we’ve been doing a lot more of has been putting food out in our lobby area,” said Bliven. “If people can’t make our hours of operation, they can still get a chance to get something.”
The coordinator said that FUEL has seen a lot of success with this, and although it makes it difficult to track engagement, to him, it’s more important that “people get the resources that they might need.”
During winter break, Bliven said he plans to prepare similar to-go bags as ones from the Friendsgiving event to hand out to students in need during set times, although these days and times have not yet been determined.
There is also a refrigerator and freezer in the FUEL lobby that can be utilized by students who can’t make their hours of operation. This is open as long as the building itself (Albright Health Center) is open. Bliven said the best way to stay up to date with FUEL’s hours and other important information is through their social media @fuelnku.