Instead of spending their last day of spring break lounging at home, students and faculty came onto campus to hold hands in front of the Humanities building on Sunday April 18 to raise awareness for  the statewide event known as Hands Across California.

“This was a very beneficial event, and the students really generated a lot of enthusiasm,” Rebecca Cobb Director of Student Development, said. “During these tough budget times we need to bring attention to community colleges and the students.”

The main goal of the event was to raise funds for the California Community Colleges Osher Scholarship Endowment, a fund that creates thousands of scholarships every year  and to advocate awareness on the state’s budget crisis and its negative impact on community colleges in California and the students that attend them. 

EC students were also allowed to submit raffle tickets to win a semester’s worth of tuition. 

Three lucky students won, including Alex Kim, the Commissioner of the Review Board for Inter-Club Council.

“Hands Across California was definitely a great experience,” Kim said. “I liked how much more people than I thought were willing to spend time on their Sunday afternoon to come to this event and show their love and support for community colleges and to advocate for higher education.

Not only did EC attendees and people from the community participate in the event, but students from LA Southwest, Rio Hondo, and West LA showed up for support.  About 80 Faculty and staff from El Camino College participated in the event.

“It was surprising to see the amount of faculty and advisers who showed up to participate in the event,” Rebecca Greer, Clerical Assistant for the Student Development Office, said. “I was really happy to see that.”

El Camino was one of the many colleges to participate in the event in California.

“It was really nice when people in their cars started honking, whether they knew what it was or not they still acknowledged what we were doing,”  Cobb said. “It brought a lot of attention to our cause.”

The event was coordinated by members from Associated Student Organization (ASO), as well as faculty from the Student Development Office, El Camino Foundation, and the Public Relations and Marketing Development. 

With help from Nicole Reinertsen, Public Relations Officer for ASO,  “team representative” in charge of spreading the word on campus and coordinating the event on the student side. 

“It was a thrill. I had a really great time stepping in and being able to help in any way I could,” Reinertsen said. “I was nervous because we were unsure what the turnout would be like, but I think we pulled off a great event.”

Anyone interested in helping the cause can still text “HANDS” to 27722 to donate $10 (this will send the funds directly to schools in your area code), according to the Hands Across California website. For more information on the event you can go to www.handsacrosscalifornia.org