On Saturday at 10am, six MBAs, three friends, and one Smurfit MSc student joined Volunteer Centre Dublin City to clean-up the Grand Canal. (To volunteer for this, just show up at the Leeson St Bridge on the first Saturday of every month! All are welcome!)
The Smurfit Clean-up Crew were met with the smiles of seasoned volunteers who were delighted that we have decided to join them! So many of us showed up that the Volunteer Centre ran out of vests for us. The ten of us were deployed along the canal with gloves, pickers, and trash bags. Several walkers, cyclists, and drivers along the way told us to keep up the good work as well, which made it even more rewarding!
Our teamwork and organizational skills from the MBA paid off – we quickly implemented a system of working in a team to fish out cans and plastic – Angie had to hold on me as I tried not to fall in while reaching for an abandoned shoe in the canal! She’s smiling from all the fun she was having with me! Pictured below, Niall is expertly using the picker while Maíre collects the items found.
After two hours of hard work, we were delighted to have a few chats and some treats provided by Starbucks. The coffee and scones were well deserved by all the volunteers. Here is a photo of most of the volunteers enjoying themselves and the beautiful view behind them!
In all seriousness, we were able to collect lots of recyclable materials which shocked and surprised us at how anyone could let trash get into the waterways. This experience really made us think about sustainability and our responsibilities to the environment. Hopefully we will be more of a positive change in near future and be able to volunteer again next month!
The UCD Smurfit MBA Social Outreach Society aims to give back to society and the local community. We decided to join Dublin City Volunteer Centre for this event because we believe in doing something good, especially when Ireland’s natural greenery provides us with so much. To date we have also supported BizWorld Ireland by volunteering, mentoring, and fundraising for an organization which provide curriculums that inspire an entrepreneurial spirit and empower children between 10-13 years old with business and financial knowledge. We hope that next year’s class can add more initiatives to MBA SOS.
Special thanks to…
Full-Time MBAs: Edel Kennedy, John Haus, Niall Randles, Nhung ‘Angie’ Dao Hong and Prachi Garg
Three MBA friends: Maíre, Jovi and Kevin
MSc in Human Resources Management: Constanze Hoenel
Lindsey Nguyen ~ Full-Time MBA