TRECSA aims to improve on last year’s promising campaign
Carlo Javier // Editor-in-Chief
After last year’s successful return, members of the Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Students Association (TRECSA) are once again partnering with Landsea Tours & Adventures to bring Stuff the Bus back to Capilano University.
From Nov. 20 to 23, TRECSA will be parking an empty Landsea tour bus in the Cedar Courtyard with the purposes of collecting donations for the Covenant House Vancouver, a local charity dedicated to helping homeless and at-risk-youth. Last year, TRECSA succeeded in bringing the iconic Stuff the Bus campaign back to CapU grounds after a ve-year hiatus, and for the members, improving on their promising relaunch is crucial.
“Mainly we just want more,” said Robyn Bossons, co-president of TRECSA and fourth-year Tourism Management student. “We did have the bus quite filled [last year] but we could’ve still gotten some more in there, so I think our big thing is getting the community involved and getting more than just the Tourism program involved.”
While the members of TRECSA are primarily comprised of Tourism Management students, the group is making it a mission to show that the campaign is as wide-reaching as possible. “This is definitely something beyond the School of Tourism Management and Outdoor Recreation,” said Andy Chu, co-president and third-year tourism student. “This is something that we saw unified the campus together. We had staff, students and even people from the local community to come out and donate items for the Covenant House Vancouver and we just feel that this is an opportunity for Cap to have a pinnacle event this semester.”
With a focus on at-risk-youth, TRECSA emphasized that items such as professional clothing and outerwear are particularly more sought after than others. “We get a lot of old t-shirts, which is great, we can always use that, but once again, because they’re [Covenant House Vancouver] trying to get people jobs, professional clothing is always useful,” said Bossons. Also sought after are working boots and other all-weather clothing articles. According to Chu, many of the jobs that youth are able to land involve heavy duty work and Covenant House Vancouver is actively looking for items that pertain to this type of work.
The Stuff the Bus campaign was originally created by Landsea Tours & Adventures. The initiative involved an empty tour bus – with its seats completely removed – essentially operating as a moving donation bin. Through a connection with Landsea Tours & Adventures president and co-owner, Kevin Pearce, TRECSA was able to bring the campaign back to CapU last year. Pearce, who himself is a graduate of CapU’s Tourism Management program has not only been an influential figure in the community, but also an important alumnus of CapU. “We also collaborate a lot between the School of Tourism Management and Landsea Tours,” said Chu. “Every summer, with our student co-op program, we do send quite a few students out there to get them trained, get the hands-on job shadowing experience with the company – it’s one of our champions within our School of Tourism Management and Outdoor Recreation.”
With Stuff the Bus taking the spotlight this semester, TRECSA is planning on capturing the same buzz for their major spring semester event, RISE. The upcoming networking event is intended to connect third- and fourth-year tourism students with alumni and potentially create prospective relationships with industry professionals.
Depending on scheduling and availability, TRECSA is also willing to arrange for pick-ups in East Vancouver and the North Shore as part of Stuff the Bus.
For more information on the campaign, email TRECSA at capu.trecsa@gmail.com