PHOTO: Olivia Bascand
Canterbury University students stripped to their undies and braved a chilly run around campus this week — all for a good cause.
More than 50 students gathered for the Engineers Without Borders undie run, which collected the clothes the students stripped for the Christchurch City Mission.
Event co-ordinator Claire Wild said students were encouraged to wear as many layers as possible to maximise the amount donated.
“This is just another way of giving back in a capacity that’s not just about students, it’s more about the community,” she said.
Despite the chilly temperatures, the student-led initiative attracted over 50 runners and marshals.
Christchurch City Mission manager of social services Gray Crawford said the donation of clothes was much appreciated.
“They will be going to our opportunity shops and to the needy and marginalised in Christchurch.”
Since the earthquakes, the mission had been seeing a lot of people coming in for assistance, he said.
The undie event was suggested to UC clubs earlier this year by students who had participated in American university exchanges in 2013.
MathSoc secretary and event organiser Matt Davies, who did an exchange to the University of California Santa Barbara last year, said he thought this would be a great event to bring back to Canterbury.
MathSoc teamed up with UCPsyc, Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and OpSoc to create the inaugural UC charity undie-run.
“I’ve really been enjoying seeing two or more clubs get together and create events,” Davies said.
Wild said the one-kilometre run was a good training event for EWB’s half-marathon fundraiser this weekend.
The club has gathered over 50 runners from across the university to participate in the Christchurch Airport Marathon event on Sunday, and has so far raised several thousand dollars.
Money raised will go towards the national EWB fund, which is used for overseas engineering missions such as sourcing and building water solutions for underprivileged communities.
_Olivia Bascand
