By Abidgail Merta
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) has joined forces with Hope Place, a non-governmental organisation, to help the local community by ensuring that everyone has an equal quality of life.
Hope Place worked with 34 final-year Strategic Communication students from the Faculty of Language and Communication on the “Thrift and Thrive” sustainability campaign on December 27-28, 2022.
The clothes collected through a donation drive, as well as the profits from the pop-up thrift store and the Hope Place’s budget store, were donated to the organisation to help others, especially in rural areas.
The campaign, with the slogan “Save, Sustain, Slay,” fosters public awareness and encourages sustainability by educating the audience on what they can do with their unused clothes.
It also educates the public on the importance of thrifting, buying secondhand clothing, and donating clothes to those in need in order to minimise Malaysia’s fast fashion problem.
Activities like clothes donation drives, upcycling classes, exhibitions, and campus pop-up thrift stores aim to meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the demands of the future by repurposing items.
This programme allows university students to improve their skills in decision-making, leadership, group work, critical thinking, and manners while also working with their peers, lecturers, and various external agencies.
“It is very inspiring to see UNIMAS students prioritise others’ needs over their own,” said Hope Place Charity and Retail Co-ordinator Susie Teo.
“We hope that more institutions, like UNIMAS, would join us in eradicating poverty and helping underprivileged people through ecological and resource sustainability,” she added.
• This article was written by a student from the Strategic Communication Programme at the Faculty of Language and Communication, UNIMAS.
