Memorial students invaded the lobby of the Confederation Building in St. John’s earlier this month – but for a good reason.

They were there to be recognized for their volunteer efforts from the past year, accepting awards during the sixth annual Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) ceremony.

This year, 149 bronze, 40 silver and 11 gold level awards were presented to students.

Those at the ceremony on March 6, accepted their honours from Dave Denine, the provincial minister responsible for the volunteer and not-for-profit sector.

He was joined by Dr. Eddy Campbell, acting president of Memorial, and Lt.-Gov. John Crosbie.

Memorial organizers were clearly proud of the strong showing of students for giving up free time.

“The program has grown unbelievably since its inception, which testifies to the fact that university students are aware of the importance and relevance of volunteer work as an essential part of their personal portfolio, and are becoming more aware of this each year,” said Zaren White, co-ordinator of the Student Volunteer Bureau (SVB).

“Through VIP, students become connected to other students with similar values and involvements and are welcomed into a very vibrant and active part of the Memorial University community – student volunteers.”

The VIP is a joint initiative of the SVB, the Centre for Career Development and Experiential Learning, and is supported by MUNSU.

For the past six years, the groups have collaborated and recognized students who complete specific hours of volunteerism. In order to receive a bronze award, participants must complete 20 hours of volunteerism. They must complete 40 hours for silver and 80 hours for gold.

“I am immensely pleased with the tremendous increase in student participation,” said Ms. White. “While we had 136 awards completed for last year’s ceremony, up from 54 the year before, this year we broke the 200 mark. The program has become a very significant part of Memorial’s recognition of student contributions, which is excellent considering this program is completely administered and facilitated by students. The huge involvement in VIP, combined with the extreme increase in visitors to the Student Volunteer Bureau this past year, are very encouraging to myself and my assistants and volunteers. We know that we’re providing programs and services that are important to the student experience of this university.”