Corona care

Your support of our appeal will help students in financial need

Students who lose income because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and demonstrate financial need will benefit from the response to Avondale’s annual appeal this year.

Money raised from donations to the appeal and an offering collected in Seventh-day Adventist churches across the South Pacific tomorrow (June 6) will support the economic hardship grants Avondale University College offers to domestic and international students. The grants ensure the students can still afford tuition, textbooks and on-campus accommodation (when the residences re-open for semester two).

The impact of the coronavirus challenged staff members and students as they transitioned to working from home and studying by distance mode. “We’ve acclimatised to social distancing, self-isolation, border closures and contact tracing yet often wonder what will be next as we return to the new normal,” writes Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Kevin Petrie in the winter issue of Avondale Alumni magazine Reflections. He shares a similar message in a video produced to promote the appeal (available on Vimeo and YouTube).

The “social experiment” brought about by the pandemic has made it easier to communicate his vision for Avondale—that it transforms students who then go and transform their communities. But “transformation is built on a foundation of financial sustainability and an important part of this is ensuring we don’t lose students because of personal financial hardship.”

Petrie’s favourite Bible verse in the New Testament—Ephesians 2:13—speaks of a coming together during a period of difficulty. “God’s great passion is in reconciliation and in drawing people close to Him, where He knows they will experience completeness,” he writes. “We, as an extended Avondale family, get to play an important part in this transformation. This is an exciting privilege!”