Each year, Notre Dame students have the opportunity to embrace the season of giving by participating in fundraising and volunteering events through their residence halls.
Howard Hall held its annual “Howard Halliday,” a Christmas tree sale open to the Notre Dame community, Tuesday and Thursday this week. Community members were able to purchase mini artificial Christmas trees, ornaments and decorating supplies at the event. This year marked the event’s first time spanning two days. On Tuesday, the sale was held outside of South Dining Hall and on Thursday, it took place on Fieldhouse Mall.
“A mini tree for your dorm room is a great way to keep Christmas traditions alive even when you're away from home,” Howard Hall president Athena Westland wrote in a statement.
Also available at the sale were crafts, hot chocolate and other holiday treats.
The proceeds of the sale went to the South Bend YWCA, a women’s shelter for survivors of abuse. “My favorite part of the Christmas tree sale is the ability to bring holiday cheer to campus while supporting a great cause!” Westland wrote.
Duncan Hall residents are also spending December fundraising for those in need. At Duncan’s ice cream sandwich service event, in its first year, residents made ice cream sandwiches and sold them to community members.
“Service events in our hall bring our dorm's community together and connect us with the broader Notre Dame campus,” Duncan Hall vice president Matt Wich wrote in a statement.
The money raised from the event will go towards purchasing Christmas gifts for children in local hospitals.
“Highlanders united in pursuit of the common goal of bettering society and serving as the ‘force for good’ Notre Dame calls its students to be,” Wich wrote on the event’s impact.
On Sunday, Welsh Family Hall residents will shop for Adopt a Family at Notre Dame as part of the organization’s Christmas Shopping Day. Students will go to Meijer’s to shop with funding from the organization, and then wrap the gifts they purchased for the organization in Stepan Center.
Adopt a Family at Notre Dame also invited dorms to help out with the organization’s Thanksgiving meal shopping in November.
“I really enjoy whenever Welsh Fam has the opportunity to make an impact on our community, and these events are always very popular with our residents because they offer such a rewarding experience,” Welsh Family Hall president Kara Gallagher wrote in a statement. “It's important to plan service events for the dorm because they really strengthen our dorm community, as well as our larger sense of community on campus.”
Badin Hall’s hop-a-thon, which begins Friday and will conclude Dec. 18, is a Notre Dame-wide step count contest. Participants, who must first make a donation, will compete for prizes as they tally their steps. Dorms will also compete against each other. Proceeds from the event will benefit St. Margaret’s House, a center for women and children.
