User:Mangwe09/Curtin Student United Way

Introduction

Curtin Student United Way is a student led community change organisation that runs out of Western Australia. The group specialises in Giving, Advocating, and Volunteering in the areas of Health, Education, and Income. The group empowers youth to make the difference in their communities by training them to identify social problems and giving the opportunity to address them as they see fit. The group runs out of a parent body organisation: United Way Western Australia. It’s the first Student United Way to emerge out of the United States after the United Way World Wide movement began making moves to take the initiative globally.

What is Student United Way?

Student United Way is a student-led community change organization through which student leaders advance the common good, develop leadership skills, and join the growing LIVE UNITED movement by advocating, volunteering and fundraising on campus and in the community. This unique, year-round program enables students to make a lasting change in the community by raising awareness about community issues and supporting local non-profit organizations through Metro United Way.

How Does Student United Way Work?

An Executive Board comprised of student leaders will lead the efforts to create change on your campus. Through education and awareness-building activities, executive board members will raise awareness concerning critical issues on campus and in the community and recruit fellow students to participate in events and activities to combat these issues. Executive Board members will also plan and organize fundraising events on campus to give back to the community and work with Metro United Way to connect students to volunteer opportunities.

Origins of Curtin Student United Way

In June 2011 United Way Western Australia did a campus wide search for two interns at Curtin University. The first intern they brought on board was Kevryn Lim, who then later brought on her close friend [Kudakwashe Mangwengwendeas their second intern. The two after a brief period at the organisation stumbled upon the Student United Way initiative and soon asked where the Student United Way was for Western Australia. The question sparked the beginning of a search that led them to discover that not only was the movement not in WA, but it wasn’t anywhere else except the United States. The next few weeks saw the two interns and the CEO of United Way Western Australia Sue Dixon, sending countless emails to the United States to find out how to bring the initiative to Australia. After a few short weeks their correspondent in the United States were sent them a guideline manual on how to start a Student United Way in their local area. Kevryn and Kudakwashe then began to follow the guideline meticulously trying as best they could to do it as the book instructed. One of the first major moves of the club was the setting up of the Executive board which consists of a President, Vice President, Treasurer, secretary, and Media Liaison Officer. The two (Kuda and Kevryn) were in class with siblings Jack and Lucy Barendse who soon filled the roles of Treasurer  (Jack) and Secretary (Lucy) which then left the MLO role free for one Ashyln Nair. The two had become four and the group worked effortlessly to get the club registered with the Curtin University Guild and the United Way World Wide movement. As a result on the August 11 2011 the Curtin University Student United Way was started officially.

Executive Board

President – Kevryn Lim Vice-President – Kudakwashe Mangwengwende Treasurer – Jack Barendse Secretary- Lucy Barendse Media Liason Officer- Ashyln Nair

Vision and Mission

The Curtin University Student United Way vision is to be the largest student volunteer network in Western Australia

Its mission is to

1. Give, Advocate and Volunteer in the areas of Education, Income and Health

2. Grow leaders and connect to the community, and

3. Build lasting relationships with each other and the United Way movement