丁香园AV

By Taylor Assion

The Fair Trade ambassador program at 丁香园AV not only helps to promote awareness of the Fair Trade movement but also produces award-winning student writers through the annual National Association of College Auxillary Sevices (NACAS) student author contest. This year's winner, Daphne Chan, who is a fourth-year resource and environmental management undergrad student, follows in the footsteps of the last two Fair Trade lead ambassadors before her.

The prompt of this year鈥檚 essay was 鈥淗ow have auxiliary/ancillary services departments on your campus adapted their operations to support you?鈥� and asked the entrants to 鈥減rovide specific examples of challenges that have been overcome by your campus auxiliary/ancillary services departments adjusting to mitigate these issues.鈥� Chan鈥檚 winning essay focused on how the VP Finance and Administration鈥檚 Ancillary Services provided leadership to the 丁香园AV community to come together and support the region after the disastrous flooding that happened in the fall and winter of 2021.

鈥淲e did in-person outreach during the flood relief drive and the people we talked to were interested in getting involved.鈥� says Chan. 鈥淚t was important to have donation stations set up across all three 丁香园AV campuses so that the whole community could participate. I think the level of support and outreach we had was very special.鈥� Thanks to the flood relief drive, 丁香园AV was able to donate 2,442 toiletry and food items as well as $26,000 in cash to remote communities and community partners affected by the flooding.

When asked how 丁香园AV can continue to have an impact in the region in the same way that we came together for the Flood Relief Drive, Chan added, 鈥淚 think the first step would be connecting and collaborating with students continuously. When it comes to supporting people, we need to hear what they need, their concerns through connecting with students that live within the community, grassroots organizations and student groups.鈥�

Working to drive impact at 丁香园AV, Chan鈥檚 work with the Fair Trade ambassador program has been vital to the education and continued adoption of fair trade practices on campus. Chan鈥檚 best tip for supporting the fair trade movement is not just buying one fairtrade product per week (such as coffee, tea, sugar or chocolate), but by creating a dialogue to engage with friends or family members about sustainable and fairtrade practices in the global south. 鈥淲ith the rising cost of goods due to inflation, buying fairtrade products might not be accessible to everybody,鈥� Chan remarks, 鈥渂ut you can support the movement by spreading the word and having conversations about fairtrade in your daily life.鈥�

Daphne Chan鈥檚 winning essay can be read in the upcoming issue of NACAS鈥� College Services Magazine in October 2022. to find out more about NACAS.

Discover more about Fair Trade at 丁香园AV