ASCC Student Organizations Aid Hope House

ASCC Student Organizations Aid Hope House

By James Kneubuhl, ASCC Press Officer

Thanks to two student organizations at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), the residents of Hope House at Fatuoaiga had something extra to celebrate over Thanksgiving. The Students Association for Faasamoa and the ASCC chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) honor society organized separate fundraising activities on behalf of Hope House, and later presented the results of their efforts to the staff and residents in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

The Students Association for Faasamoa, based at the College’s Samoan Studies Institute (SSI), visited Hope House the weekend before Thanksgiving to present eight gift baskets containing bath items, along with canned food, bed sheets, and a small monetary gift. They also performed songs and dances for the appreciative Hope House residents, including a taualuga by newly crowned Miss ASCC and Association member Toefuata’ina Ta’ai.

SSI Director Okenaisa Fauolo-Manila explained that members of the Students Association for Faasamoa have an interest in learning more about their culture and participating in activities beyond the scope of their regular Samoan classes. “We create a semester calendar of different activities they participate in,” she said. “Recently, the activities have included the last two ava ceremonies to welcome visitors from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Pacific Postsecondary Education Council (PPEC). The Association also provided entertainment for the PPEC concluding ceremony and the recent Miss ASCC Pageant. Our highlighted theme for all these activities is ‘tautua’ or service. We strive to develop a student with well-rounded academic, social and cultural skills.”

The ASCC chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society also visited Hope House shortly before Thanksgiving to present a monetary gift which it had raised over the preceding weeks. Earlier in the semester, PTK members arranged to have secured “penny jars” and boxes for canned food items placed at many of the division offices around the ASCC campus so that individuals could donate spare change or food as they wished. “The money from the penny jars came to more than $600,” said PTK advisor Tina Tapuai. “Then PTK added a contribution of their own to bring the total monetary donation to Hope House up to $1000.”

In addition to the money, the PTK received boxes of canned foods as well as baskets of coconuts, taro, papaya, lettuce, au fa’i, and bunches of green onions and beans from PTK member Easter Kim. “Sister Elsa, her staff and the residents of Hope House were thankful and gave their blessings to ASCC,” said Tapuai. “Part of our mission with PTK is to help the community,” said Elvis Zodiacal, another of the PTK advisors. “Each semester we organize some sort of community service activity, and during the fall we’ve been pretty consistent with organizing a donation to Hope House prior to Thanksgiving.”

The Hope House Ministry is the only residential facility in American Samoa offering around-the-clock care for the elderly, disabled, and the “poor and abandoned” who suffer from a variety of medical situations, including stroke, Parkinson’s disease, intellectual disability, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, juvenile arthritis, and physical disability due to accident. The facility has a staff of caregivers, including nurses, as well as cooks, laundry and housekeepers, maintenance workers. Hope House supports its staff salaries by securing donations from local businesses, seeking grants from other organizations and hosting fundraising activities.

ENDS

© Scoop Media