The Student Philanthropy Council (SPC) and Black Student Association (BSA) celebrated Giving Tuesday by tabling in the student union from noon to 2 p.m.

Giving Tuesday is a global generosity event held annually on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. 

Cabrina Pope, president of BSA and a marketing major from Little Rock, said Giving Tuesday is a time when students can give back to the community.

“Even though we are in school, it’s a blessing that we’re here in college, so we can give back to those who aren’t in school,” Pope said.

According to the Giving Tuesday website, the event is a day that unleashes the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world for the better.

BSA held a toy drive and SPC held a fundraiser for the student emergency fund.

Pope said BSA’s main agenda is to gather as many toys as possible to give toys to children in need for the holidays, while SPC wanted to raise as much money for the student emergency fund as possible to help students effectively.

Pope said the toy drive could benefit not just them but the community as well. 

“It’ll have a great impact on the community. There’s a lot of students and children in Jonesboro that don’t have what they need for Christmas, a lot of single parents, or maybe just households that can afford toys,” Pope said. “Hopefully this will make their Christmas.”

Kirsten Harrell, a sophomore nursing major and BSA member from Memphis, explained the ways she thinks the toy drive could help others. 

“The toy drive is just a good way to express how the organization really just cares about the community in their own way, and I think it will help us  be an audience to them as well, and their future, that they will also carry on good stuff like this, and just remember the impact that we had on them as a child, and they will soon do that for other people,” Harrell said.

Eddie Pirtle, a junior theater arts major from Memphis, is involved in SPC for Giving Tuesday. 

Pirtle said the project aims to raise funds to support students with financial instability, which he said is crucial for both current and future students. 

“It’s got an actual bigger meaning to what it is. In my opinion, it is really helpful to students on this campus and to the other students that’s gonna be possibly coming here next year too,” Pirtle said.

Grace Winter, a sophomore mathematics major from West Memphis, Arkansas, also tabled for SPC on Giving Tuesday and helped raise funds for the emergency fund, food pantry and career closet. 

“This fund is also going to heavily impact the food pantry, especially during this time of year when a lot of families on campus need help with food and the career closet. They can get help with finding professional attire to improve their chances of getting jobs,” Winter said.

Susie Johnson, a junior elementary education major from St. Louis, also helped table for SPC during Giving Tuesday.

“I think especially since it’s around Christmas time, it’s pretty awesome that we’re going to be able to, like, raise money to give back to people on campus, especially because, since we are in college and it’s expensive, it’s a lot more difficult for people who are self-supporting themselves,” Johnson said. “So being able to get back to them, especially around this time of year, just really great.”

She believes the project will positively impact student retention by providing necessary financial assistance and preventing students from leaving school due to non-tuition emergencies.

“I think it’ll help students stay in school and not have to leave the campus they have, like a setback that’s non-tuition related. So it’ll help keep enrollment up which is always great,” Johnson said.

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