International students host Winter Warm Up amid changes to student services
- Brianna Lyttle
- Oct 20
- 3 min read
One challenge that affects international students coming to St. Thomas University is the cold Canadian weather and the financial hurdles that come with obtaining proper winter clothing.
On Oct. 15, the International Office and St. Thomas University’s International Student Association (STUISA) combatted this issue with the Winter Warm Up in James Dunn Hall.
This annual event dates back to 2018 and supports students who struggle to afford or obtain winter items by offering free donated clothing.
The event faced unique challenges this time around, as the international student coordinator position was left vacant at the start of the term, before Saa Andrew Gbongbor was temporarily rehired to fill in for Carrie Monteith-Levesque.
As a result, Mishael Robinson, president of STUISA, said planning began later than expected.
“We did start talking about it in the summer, because it is a yearly event. But due to the uncertainty of if we were going to have an international student coordinator or not, there was a stall there,” she said. “ Normally, we start getting donations in the summer, but we didn't really start getting donations till August.”
Jon Kenneth Guardo, a fourth-year student from the Philippines, said that in previous years, it was hard to acquire items without coming early.
One of Guardo's favourite memories was obtaining a jacket that he still wears to this day.
Guardo stepped in as a volunteer for the event at the last minute, taking on the role of interacting with the students who approached the racks.
“Nobody thought it was a donation drive,” he said. “They thought it was a sale or some sort, so they came to us and they thought they had to pay for [the items].”
Guardo hopes to see the international student coordinator position permanently occupied next year, to support international students and aid with events such as the Winter Warm Up.
“[In] previous years, when Carrie [Monteith-Levesque] was the head of the International Office, she had lots of connections, and in turn, we got lots of donations and people were more aware of what it was.”
Despite this, there was still a decent student turnout, with most of the donated items being claimed.
“We had our first rush of people who came to get the better winter clothes and sweaters,” said Robinson. “Then we also had our second rush at twelve o’clock of people who were also coming out of class.”
Items included jackets, scarves, toques, neck warmers, sweaters and shirts.
This was Robinson’s third Winter Warm Up. After serving as an International Office assistant, she became STUISA’s secretary for her second year and now serves as president of the student association.
“I remember my first Winter Warm Up. I got a jacket and I've been using that jacket since the first year that I got it,” said Robinson. “I got a second one in my second year. I've actually never bought a winter jacket in Canada and I feel like that alone is the success story of Winter Warm Up.”
Robinson said she grows fonder of the event as she observes the gratitude from other students.
“A lot of students thanked us and I feel like that made all of us feel very good … Last year, we had a thank-you board, which there were a lot of thank-you notes on,” she said. “And I feel like that just makes you feel like you're doing something impactful in people's lives.”
Coming up next for STUISA will be International Education Week, which will be taking place the third week of November in collaboration with the St. Thomas University Students’ Union.
“We are hoping that [International Education Week] is going to be big this year … The population of international students year after year is reducing and we don't want international students to forget that no matter how small we get, we are still a community,” said Robinson.
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