What is CRS?
On Saturday Sept. 29, Cabrini University is hosting the CRS regional training program. Cabrini has been an institutional partner with the organization for the past 13 years. CRS, which stands for Catholic Relief Services, is the global development and aid agency of the American Catholic Church in the United States.
CRS carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and helpless overseas. CRS work to alleviate suffering and provide assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion, or nationality.
For this upcoming event, members from different schools, as well as the Campus community, are coming to learn more about the event. The event will provide people information on the global issues CRS wants to address.
CRS Ambassador Chapter
The regional training is open to all students of any faith, background or major.
“CRS is for students to learn how to become ambassadors and what to do as CRS ambassadors,” Vice President of Cabrini’s CRS Ambassador Chapter, Danielle Basile, said. “It’s a group of students who are committed to the kinds of work that CRS does, and they want to bring awareness of the things that are going on in the world to campus and to do whatever they can to support.”
Becoming an ambassador is simple. Students need to attend at least five consecutive meetings and continue to be involved in the chapter. They host meetings every Monday night at 6:00pm in the Wolfington Center. Ambassadors want to have events on campus to help spread the word for students.
“We’re planning events right now. We’re planning a panel for immigration and migration and planning for a human trafficker survivor to come speak.” President of CRS Ambassador Chapter, Mingon Toppino, said. “We’ve got a lot of great things planned for the semester.”
Why You Should Join CRS
“Being a member of CRS brings different benefits,” Associate Director of the Wolfington Center, Ray Ward, said. “You get to meet people that are committed to social justice issues and you broaden your horizons. You get to see glimpses of what’s going on in other parts of the world and it’s really heavily student-led.”
CRS ambassadors discuss multiple topics such as human trafficking, migration, climate change and global hunger. These are the main topics that will be discussed at the training and meetings. CRS Ambassadors commit to representing CRS values and programs on campus, training at CRS headquarters in Baltimore, monthly meetings on campus, organizing and running at least two programs per semester and publicizing and reporting on those programs.
Students don’t have to become an ambassador, students can still come out to meetings and help as much as they want. CRS wants people to advocate and spread the message around.
It’s easy to join! All you have to do is fill out the registration form or speak to an ambassador at The Wolfington Center.
“By going to regional training you’ll learn the skills to become an ambassador and different ways to handle social justice issues,” Basile said.
