On Nov. 17, the Commuter Student Association (CSA) hosted its annual Thanks-Give-Away event. This year’s event was “CSAturday Night Fever” theme, complete with 70s disco music, arcade games, colorful lights and decorations.

Thanks-Give-Away annually features performances from Fordham dance and a capella performing arts groups, a raffle, food and an opportunity for commuter students to get to know each other. At the raffle portion of the event, prizes such as senior ball tickets, AirPods and speakers were given away. A ticket to the event includes an entry to the raffle. The prizes given away at this event were gifts from campus organizations such as Ram Vam, Public Safety and the Office of the President.

The event is primarily a fundraiser for Part of the Solution (POTS), a local nonprofit organization and close community partner dedicated to combating poverty and hunger in the Bronx. A ticket to Thanks-Give-Away is how CSA fundraises, with one hundred percent of the proceeds going to POTS. The event broke the fundraising goal set by CSA, raising over $2,000 for POTS, not including contributions from donors such as Fordham Toyota and Coca-Cola.

Giving back to the community is especially important to commuter students, said Alessandra Carino, FCRH ’23 executive president of CSA, “since we are the Commuting Students Association, and many of us are New Yorkers, native to New York City, even native to the Bronx, it is very powerful to be able to give back to our home.”

Whether or not attendees of the event are commuters, engaging with this event is impactful to the local community. “It’s really important to look outside of campus and see the impact that we can make on the community we will be living in for four years,” says Malia Guebli, FCRH ’23, executive treasurer of CSA.

According to Carino, events like these are important to commuter students, as the event provides an opportunity for them to come together and form a community both as commuter students and as New Yorkers.
Carino said, “having a common identity is helpful to cultivating community.” She added, “we have a very particular college experience.”

“We don’t dorm on campus, so it’s harder for us to make friends and feel connected,” said Katya Drohan, GSB ’25, a commuter student. “At events like these, we all can get to know each other. Even if we’re not from the same areas, we can all relate to each other in that were commuters, and we just want to have fun,”

The event is traditionally held on the Thursday before Thanksgiving.

Thanks-Give-Away occurring at night is important to the nature of the event, as it brings commuter students together at a time after they typically leave campus. The interactive atmosphere of the event is meant to create a sense of togetherness to form as a kickoff to the holiday season.

“Community is the most important part of college, no matter if you are a commuter or not,” said Christina Figura, FCRH ’25.
The consistent success of the Thanks-Give-Away event fundraiser can be seen as an indicates growth for the program and organizers say they hope for more positive impact in the future.