This post was contributed by LUJSA Emet for Israel Liaison Sidney Shapiro.
For the second year in a row, LUJSA (the Laurentian University Jewish Students Association), with support from CAMERA, held our Chanukah donut giveaway. From 9am to 7pm, we held an early Chanukah greeting event, and helped students feel a little less stressed out about the end of term and their upcoming exams. The event was held in a new venue this year; the Laurentian Student Center proved to be a great location for interacting with students, faculty and administration. Over the course of the day we handed out over 1,000 assorted donuts and about 800 cups of coffee, along with swag, postcards about Chanukah and the event, and talked with the many people who stopped by.
We enjoyed doing the event, and it’s a great way for people to lean about what Chanukah is like in Israel, teach the underlying message behind the story of the holiday, and de-mystify the state of Israel. We had visits from students from across campus, including an entire chemistry class that brought donuts for their professor (he emailed us a thank you afterwards), and students from dozens of programs. It was great to meet new people and tell them about our events, and since, we have seen an increase in interest in the events we run both on and off campus. Overall, students had a very positive experience, and it was great interacting with the over one thousand people that stopped by our table.