Students dig deep
A feature of each year’s Aquinas calendar is the student fund-raiser traditionally held on the Labour Day public holiday before the start of Term 4, called ‘the Annual’.
While inclement weather meant that it was not held in the usual early Spring sunshine, and it had to be moved from the ‘Pond’ lawns to under cover outside the Dining Room, there was no dampening of enthusiasm.
The format of the afternoon is an auction of donated items, for which students make bids. As part of the fun, students wear fancy dress.
Organising the event on behalf of the Student Club was Sophie Wallis.
‘It’s always amazing to see how generous Aquinas students are,’ said Sophie.
‘We raised about $5,000 in just a couple of hours, and that all came directly from the pockets of poor uni students.’
Sophie said that two beneficiaries of this year’s Annual were ‘Backpacks for Kids’ which helped students from struggling families to take part fully in school activities, and sponsorship of a student at the Catholic teachers’ college in Timor Leste which is run by the Marists.