SAITSA launches new philanthropic club | The Weal (Photo by Andy Maxwell Mawji/SAIT Polytechnic)

With more than half of the provinceas homeless population living in Calgary, there is a pressing need for additional services to accommodate their needs, and one student club is working to help fill that gap.

Ellie May Rosario, club president of Serendipity, seeks to play her part in assisting those who are less fortunate.

aI just want to do a little bit of good,a said Rosario.

Rosario is a mechanical engineering technology student currently in her second year at SAIT Polytechnic.

Having lived in numerous countries over the course of her youth, Rosario is no stranger to poverty.

She pointed out that the one country that had affected her most was India, where she lived for two years.

In India, 1.2 billion peopleaa third of the country’s populationalive in extreme poverty, according to the UN Millennium Development Goals report of 2014.

This statistic influenced her decision to help the poor.

aLiving there, it changes you,a she said.

The club is still relatively new, as it was initially conceived in December 2014.

A challenge that she currently faces is having members of the club formally set up a charity event.

It is something that she finds particularly difficult due to the difference in schedules, as well as a majority of the members being busy with midterms or their capstone projects.

For now, Rosario seeks to spread awareness of the clubas existence, recruiting members into the club before planning too far into the future.

However, she hopes to work with various institutions in Calgary, such as the Mustard Seed or the Calgary Drop-In Centre (DI), by helping the impoverished before she ends her term as the clubas president.

The DI is more than happy to work with Serendipity, according to external relations manager Jordan Hamilton.

aItas a wonderful initiative,a he said.

Although institutions like the DI, Mustard Seed, and various others are doing their best in dealing with Calgaryas current homeless population, help is always appreciated.

aNon-profits need help a they canat do it alone,a said Hamilton.

aCalgary needs more groups that involve people in poverty reduction. People have helped every one of us.

aWe now have a responsibility to help others.a

SAITSA is also open to working with Serendipity in their future endeavours.

a[Serendipity does] important charity work for the benefit of the general public,a said VP Student Life Thao Ngyuen.

SAITSA does some charity work as well, having worked with Calgary Food Bank and United Way.

aSerendipity has amazing initiatives to provide support to less fortunate people.a