BY TAYLOR SCHWEITZER
Helping out in the community is always rewarding, especially when it comes to devoting a night toward raising awareness of a charity or valuable service.
On April 2, a group of Conestoga public relations students gathered at Cambridge City Hall to host a coffee house and silent auction to raise money for Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region.
Awakened By A Dream, a local spiritual music band, performed at the event and played their own music and cover songs.
“Women’s Crisis Services wants to provide more for the community,” said Umi Hami, a second-year public relations bridge student. “Our coffee house and silent auction are a way to raise awareness and donate to their shelters.”
Women’s Crisis Services is a not-for-profit charitable organization. The service helps women and children work toward getting over abusive hardships by providing shelter, education and outreach services.
Jessica McCormick, a second-year public relations student, said, “The hardest part about making this event work was getting people to come. You really have to work your own connections. In public relations we always hear ‘network, network, network.’ No matter what event you hold, you’re going to need networking to help you. For us, networking and physically getting people to show up to this event was the hardest, but we still managed to raise money.”
The silent auction consisted of art pieces and a raffle draw at the end of the night. The pieces included paintings, positive sayings and photography chosen by public relations students to suit the theme of the event, which was raising awareness about how much help women and families need in the community.
For more information about Women’s Crisis Services, visit www.wcswr.org or call 519-653-2289.
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