Once again the Faculty of Social Work has stepped up to help those who are marginalized in our community. The University of Calgary 2011 United Way Campaign achieved remarkable results this year with more than $290,000 raised for the United Way of Calgary and Area. Each year, the university issues a challenge to all departments to do their part for this worthy cause. And boy did FSW do its part. Dean Jackie
Sieppert proudly informed all attending the Faculty Assembly on December 16, that he was ‘extremely proud’ of the fact that this year the Faculty of Social Work shone with the highest participation rate of any unit or Faculty on campus -- over 70%. He told those assembled that “We take pride in being part of our community. All of you have again demonstrated a level of caring and community spirit that has come to characterize this Faculty.”
You may recall that the Dean pledged that if the Faculty of Social Work did not lead participation rates at the U of C, he would spend an afternoon washing the car of the Dean with the highest rate in front of their Faculty building. In addition, he would wear the outfit of that Dean’s choosing and he would stay for a few more hours to wash other cars with all proceeds donated to the United Way Campaign. Thus the ‘Save our Dean’ campaign’ was underway and the call to action was answered by faculty, staff and students. The initiative was lead by Theresa Eng who, among other things, organized a noon hour barbeque featuring the Dean cooking burgers, with all proceeds to the United Way. The weather cooperated and the day was a tremendous success. And it wasn’t just the United Way that benefitted. The Faculty of Social Work also organized a food blitz and managed to collect nine large boxes of groceries for the Campus Food Bank. The ‘Save our Dean’ campaign turned out to be a tremendous success, but in the end, the most important piece remains that vital social programs will continue to be offered by the United Way agencies thanks to these incredibly generous donations.
