Bantam Bazaar is around the corner!

...and so are many other events to start the Spring semester!

Trinity College, are you looking for a new bookshelf? Or maybe an extra couch for your common room? Then come to the Bantam Bazaar on Tuesday, February 8. The one-day thrift shop began last year as students found a way to get rid of items no longer needed and raise money for the earthquake emergency in Haiti. 1,400 went to the victims in Haiti, and this year students and other members of the Trinity Community are coming together once again.
Proceeds will go to victims of the floods in Pakistan this year.
The Community Service Office has collected donations for the past few weeks, and students "dorm stormed" Saturday to collect more.
So there is a plethora of items for you to look at, and there will be an array of baked goods made by Trinity's own.

Also, Habitat for Humanity has filled 13 of the 25 spots for its alternative Spring Break Trip. The group will be going to South Carolina this year, which means a much shorter bus ride than in the past and more time building! With sandy beaches nearby, you will likely get some swimming in. If you're interested, please contact TrinityHabitat@gmail.com. 
Habitat has also begun tabling for their Valentine's Day Goldfish Sale. What better way to say "Be Mine?" then with a beautiful yellow goldfish? Members will be tabling all week outside of Mather, so stop by!



Looking for more highlights after the Superbowl?

There is a new service group at Trinity. Are you interested in volunteering at the Children's Medical Center? Please contact Alie Schreiber at Alexandra.Schreiber@trincoll.edu. Currently volunteers go Monday and Saturday afternoons.

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

ConnPIRG held their Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Campaign the week before Thanksgiving! Tricia Cavanaugh (2014) made great flyers to encourage students to come to the events.  Volunteers tabled with facts about homelessness and a cardboard house made by Nicole S. (2014).

The week culminated with the SleepOut! The SleepOut was organized by student volunteers to raise awareness about Homelessness and educate about the true faces of homelessness and the need to address affordable housing in Connecticut.
Speakers included Reverend Woods of the Hartford Rescue Mission and Richard Luchansky of Immaculate Conception Shelter and Housing Corporation. Reverend Woods presented his reflections from starting his a food kitchen and shared the recent growth the program has experienced as they expand services to include emergency housing.  After an a Cappella performance with the Trinitones, Richard and Michael spoke powerfully on the invisible faces of homelessness.
Afterwards the students made s'mores, reflected on the themes of the night, and built a huge box fort before going to 'bed' in their sleeping bags.  The next morning one student said, "I was so cold last night, even with the body heat of everyone else in the fort and the huge extra sleeping bags we had over us.  It was a reminder of how important it is to address homelessness in Hartford."

Also, the Amnesty Chapter at Trinity College held the Annual Hunger Banquet on Friday, November 19 - the same night as the SleepOut.  Volunteers flyered for the event which took place in the Washington Room.  Participants 'paid' with a donation of canned goods and/or cash.

Praxis baked almost 200 apple pies for Thanksgiving! Members gathered in Hamlin Hall at 11 am to make the pies, and some assembled boxes for delivery.  Volunteers got to see the insides of the Mather bakery and the huge, commercial oven that was used to make the pies.  As a few volunteers took the pies out after an hour, they enjoyed the delicious smells!

Another group on campus, Habitat for Humanity, completed their third build of the semester that same day.  Ten volunteers met and carpooled to the build site in Hartford, where volunteers worked with two families in building a house.

Habitrot and Relay!

After weeks of planning, over a hundred students participated in this years Habitrot and the group raised more than 12,000 dollars! That means that this years Habitrot raised more money than any other in years past.
What made the event a success? Habitat for Humanity members tabled for the event the week before, and students from frats or sororities, dorms, and other service groups formed teams.
Also, some Professors gave extra credit for participating! Are you a science major who needs some motivation to train? Keep in mind for next year that Professor Curran and Professor Niciase in the Chemistry Department offers extra credit to those students who can beat him in the 5 k race.  Hmm considering the Chemistry team had the most participants by far, there were many hopefuls! 



Tuesday night, Relay for Life held a very successful Ice Cream Social! Members of the Trinity Community were able to sign up as Relay for Life Fundraisers with five dollar donations, and everyone got hyped up about the main event, which will be in the Spring. Currently there are 35 teams signed up.

October!

The Lions Club participated in the annual agricultural fair in Berlin during the first weekend of October. Despite the rain and cold weather the first day of the fair, volunteers Vicky Chi and Li Lu stayed optimistic and managed to sell quite a few mums. During the three days of the Fair, volunteers managed to sell a total of 125 mums, raising money for their end of the year goal.

Also, Habitat for Humanity voted on their Spring Break destination.  Spring Break coordinators Sophie Starchman and Jessica Nunes presented four options, in North Carolina, West Palm Beach, Florida, Biloxi, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C.
Members voted and the destination for the Alternative Spring Break trip in 2011 is...an ocean side location in Johns Island, South Carolina! The islands are in need of more affordable housing as a result of recent development on the islands and generations of serparation from the mainland. On the same day, Habitat ran a successful spare change drive that allowed them to raise more than eighty dollars through donations from Trinity students. Lastly, on World Habitat Day the Underground was packed in an effort to raise awareness while enjoying good music and food.

And these beautiful autumn days can only mean that Halloween on Vernon is coming! ACES and other student groups are preparing for the event when about 200 children from Hartford trick-or-treat on Vernon Street.

Building Homes, Building Hope, Building Community

Habitat's First Build took place on Saturday, September 25. Nine members of the Trinity Habitat trekked to New Britain for the weekend build. It was a complete success! Students learned a skill they didn't even think about before - putting up drywall.

Among the other volunteers we met that day were 4 homeowners, a former teacher and Peace Corps volunteer, a Trinity alumnus, and an experienced carpenter. Also, the homeowners dropped by to stay hi, an excited family of three boys, one little girl, and their mom!