By means of approved structures, students of residences become involved with community-service upliftment on a voluntary basis. In doing so, they increase social understanding and civic engagement. Our students support and cooperate with new and established organisations/projects in the zone – Mangaung and Free State areas.
Buddy Project
Via the Buddy project, Kovsie Rag aims to promote social responsibility among students and the broader community. It emphasises the need for responsible alcohol use and advances the principles of the broader, national Arrive Alive campaign. A buddy is a designated driver that refrains from drinking and thus ensures the safety of family and friends after any social outing or event.
Schoolbag Project
Every year, we partner with five Bloemfontein schools to make a difference in less-privileged pupils’ lives. At this stage, our partner schools identify 30 pupils who have a serious need in terms of stationery, and then we donate schoolbags filled with the necessary items to them. We are hoping to expand this project to make a difference in many more pupils’ lives, since there is a great need for this.
Towers of Hope Project
The 'Tweetoringkerk', situated in the centre of Bloemfontein city, is administrating this project. They attend to the need of the homeless, jobless, and poor people in the city centre. Support is provided to the Towers of Hope Project to address some of these issues. This annual project takes place in colleges and each college prepares and hand out about 900 hotdogs and cold drinks to the homeless community.
Soup Distribution
During 2012/2013, the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of the Free State conducted a research project, which revealed that 59% of students at the UFS suffer from severe food insecurity. The Student Affairs Management team (SAM) consequently established a Food Insecurity Task Team (FITT) as a way to address this problem. On an quarterly basis, RAG CS will be distributing soup and bread to those students in need.