Indigenous College Students Help Ministry
L to R: Adam Johnson, Amber Cronk, Cathy Brittan, Darla McArthur, Veronica Cyr Front L to R: Sylvia Worm, Cleon Starr, Sharmaine Fourhorns, Cristina Crowe. At the weekly soup and auction event on Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2019, the students presented ICF with their donation of more than $2,000.
Staff and volunteers at the Indigenous Christian Fellowship (ICF) in Regina, Sask., are very busy on Thursday afternoons helping people who come to the weekly community Sharing Time for free furniture, clothing, household items, and other goods.
In late February at one of these Sharing Times a young woman appeared out of the crowd and approached Bert Adema, executive director of ICF.
“When I met her, I saw a young woman with a poster for a ‘taco-in-a-bag sale,’ and I presumed that she would be asking for permission to display the poster at the ministry,” said Adema.
“Instead, to my delight, and to her credit, Sylvia Worm asked for permission to raise funds for our ministry!”
That’s when Adema learned that Year II students in the business administration program at the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) are required to raise money for a charity as a major class assignment for their project management course.
“Sylvia and fellow students adopted ICF as the beneficiary of their major class assignment, which they named ‘Indigenous Empowerment Project,’” said Adema.
When asked why they chose ICF, one of three urban Indigenous ministry centers funded by the Christian Reformed Church in North America, Worm explained that she and her peers had observed that larger charities tend to receive support from various sources and then the accumulated donations are distributed to a range of organizations.
They wanted instead to support a charity directly, believing that in doing so, they could make a significant difference for one organization.
And they chose ICF because Worm was familiar with the ministry, having attended wakes and funerals for Indigenous relatives that had been held there.
Serving as a place for such services and events is one outreach element of ICF, which is located in a challenging neighborhood in north-central Regina.
“The fellowship does help a lot of people who are in poverty,” said Worm.
After learning as much as she could about the organization, Worm suggested to the class that they support ICF.
“We all gave our idea of what charity to support, and we voted to support ICF by mutual consent,” said Worm, who has now graduated from the institute and plans to begin studying business administration at the University of Regina in the fall. She ultimately hopes to work in an area, possibly heading an organization, that helps children.
Raising money for ICF started with the “taco-in-a-bag” sale, along with the sale of other items, at their school because they needed funds to hold a bingo game.
“Many people in this area really enjoy playing bingo,” said Worm. But in order to rent the bingo hall and buy supplies, they needed to hold the food fundraiser. Then, as it turned out, the weather and the roads were terrible on the date set for bingo. They worried that no one would come, but 30 people showed up and played bingo, and many won door prizes. In the end, the students surpassed their fundraising goal of $2,000.
“We were quite shocked that we did so well, especially since the gravel road to the bingo hall was so bad,” said Worm.
When Adema gave his approval for the fundraiser, he said, he wasn’t sure what would come of it.
But then in late April, during a weekly soup and auction event held on Wednesdays at ICF, Worm returned to give the fellowship a check for $2,125.95.
Bert Ottenson, a board member of ICF, was attending the lunch that day and hadn’t heard of the “taco-in-a-bag” fundraiser. Given that the ministry is aimed largely at assisting their Indigenous neighbors, he was pleased.
“This was great to see. It wasn’t a solicited donation,” he said. “And what was really good was to see Indigenous people giving to Indigenous people.”
Located in Treaty 4 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis, the Indigenous Christian Fellowship ministry serves the spiritual and social needs of people in the community. A ministry of the Christian Reformed Church, ICF’s address is 3131 Dewdney Avenue, Regina, SK S4T 0Y5 Canada; fax: 306.359.0103; tel: 306.359.1096.
