Seneca RED Fall 2021 Alumni Magazine - 36

GIVING
BACK
4,144
Feed to Succeed grocery store gift
cards distributed to students in 2020/21
Supporting students
through the pandemic
Bursaries for
25,000 students
THERE'S NO DENYING that the pandemic
brought many new challenges
for students. Survey
results gathered by the Seneca
Student Federation (SSF) in
October 2020 paint a devastating
picture: due to COVID-19,
79 per cent of Seneca students
experienced financial hardship;
27 per cent experienced food
insecurity and 59 per cent could
no longer afford one or more
household expense like rent,
groceries or utilities.
The SSF is an incorporated
group that represents students
and provides programming and
services. For them, those statistics
were important evidence
for what they had already seen
firsthand in their interactions
with students. The loss of
employment and financial
struggles were leading to anxiety
around future plans, including
students questioning
whether they could afford to
stay in school.
The SSF quickly sought to
support as many students as
they could by partnering with
Seneca and donating
36 RED 2021
$1.4 million to create the Seneca
COVID-19 Student Relief Fund.
With this generous gift, more
than 25,000 students received
emergency and longer-term
financial assistance to make it
through the pandemic.
" Our social media was flooded
with messages from students
telling us how these funds had
helped them, " said Ritik Sharma,
President, SSF. " Some students
were planning to drop courses
due to financial challenges,
while others couldn't afford
required textbooks. The bursary
provided a great sense of relief
and a ray of hope to students
and their families. "
In addition to the large contribution
to the bursary, the SSF
began providing virtual grocery
store gift cards to temporarily
replace its regular food bank
program and support the
increased number of students
who could not afford groceries.
As of July 2021, nearly 4,000
students had benefited from
this service.
Other services the SSF has
continued to offer to students
during the pandemic include
an online tax clinic to help file
taxes, as well as access to legal
aid and mental and physical
health supports.
With their donation and
through their work, the SSF
hopes to provide a memorable
experience for Seneca students.
" We understand the hardships
that our students are
going through and the difficulties
they are facing, " said Mr.
Sharma. " While we know that
academics are a priority, we try
our best to provide students with
tools to enhance their student
life while studying at Seneca. "
The bursary provided a
great sense of relief and a
ray of hope to students and
their families.
For more information on
supporting students, please visit
senecacollege.ca/support
Picture above from left to right: Oshin
Lamba, Ritik Sharma, and Dina Yehya
PHOTO: IAN PATTERSON
http://www.senecacollege.ca/support
Seneca RED Fall 2021 Alumni Magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Seneca RED Fall 2021 Alumni Magazine
