Amanda Saeli, a junior marketing major and club president, said she’s excited about Embrace it Africa’s new title of official university charity and hopes it will bring more attention to the group’s work.
Bonaventure’s Student Government Association (SGA) named Embrace It Africa, a student-run, non-profit organization, Bonaventure’s official charity on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
Embrace It Africa’s members’ main focus is to aid Ugandan communities in need. The group supports Bethlehem Parent’s School & Orphanage in Uganda, as well as a number of local hunger groups in the area.
According to Saeli, members have actively combatted a number of issues plaguing Ugandan communities, some of which include women’s hygiene and the lack of available vitamins and critical vaccines in the area.
Saeli said Embrace It Africa has made major, lasting impacts since its 2008 establishment, including a sponsorship program that has sent over 100 children to school and a microfinance institution that gives small loans to members of the community and has proved effective in developing the local economy.
Members also work with a widow’s group to help single mothers ostracized with HIV/AIDs get back on their feet.
Saeli added she feels Embrace It Africa’s work has been a good example of Franciscan values in action.
“Embrace it Africa has expanded into an official 501c3 charity that continues to involve Bonaventure students and members of the Olean community,” Saeli said. “It has been repeatedly referenced as an exemplary model of Bonaventure students reaching out to the local and global communities on their own accord.”
Saeli added the club was the only small charity proposed for the title, which made it the only charity with zero percent of the donations going to overhead.
LaurieAnne Wickens, a junior marketing major and club officer, said she feels Embrace It Africa’s ability to make a significant change with even the smallest of donations played a part in this ruling too.
“We were started by SBU students, and it’s already a club on campus,” Wickens said. “The cause is so deserving as well. The people that Embrace It Africa help in Uganda benefit and grow greatly from even the smallest donations. For example, $400 can feed the entire school for a month. It’s a great cause to help better humanity.”
Wickens added that the intensive work members do often goes unnoticed.
“There are so many complicated things that go on behind the scenes to any charity,” she said. “It’s way more than collecting donations and selling T-shirts. Embrace It Africa has so many different programs going on at once; it can be very difficult to balance everything.”
Samantha Schermerhorn, a junior management major, agreed and said she has learned the logistics of charity work through her involvement with the club.
“I have learned so much outside of my major through the club,” she said. “For example, we’ve focused a lot this past semester on health-related issues, and with that, I have learned about which diseases are the biggest risks to the area, their causes and the best ways to treat these diseases. I’ve also learned the importance of budgeting. With a charity like ours, it’s important to use every dollar as effectively as possible.”
Saeli, Wickens and Schermerhorn all said they hope students find interest in Embrace it Africa’s cause, as well as the experiences the club offers.
“[Students] get a first-hand understanding of the culture and needs of the people we work with in Uganda,” Saeli said. “Instead of forcing projects into the Ugandan community, we take a step back to mak0e sure projects actually meet its needs and integrate well into their culture. The students get to take their own interests and what they’ve learned in their own majors to make an incredible, direct impact for those who really need it.”
Saeli said that interested students can contact her for further information at saeliaj13@bonaventure.edu.
mcgurllt14@bonaventure.edu
