Three Fairfield University sophomore students spent their last week on campus attempting to convince fellow students to open their wallets to raise money for a unique holiday gift.

The group knocked on every first-year door and most sophomore residence halls, asking students to donate money for Tully Dinning Common workers as part of an effort they started last Christmas between friends. 

Christo Traub, a Communication major from Reading, Mass., started the Christmas initiative by approaching some of his closest friends and Langguth neighbors, asking if they would donate money to the Tully workers.

He said that his initiative of giving back to the Tully workers grew out of a need to show appreciation for what he described as small acts of kindness from some Fairfield University dining employees.

While Traub received almost $300 from the people he asked, some of his friends had other plans.

“Logan had texted me over break and told me ‘Hey, let’s do something bigger and let’s go door-to-door to see if we get people to donate,’” Traub recounts.

This encouragement from Logan Runde, a Sports Media major from New Hampshire who is also Traub’s suitemate, led to a days-long effort to doorknock all six first-year residence halls and some of the sophomore buildings on campus.

On the first night of knocking on doors at Gonzaga, McCormick and parts of Campion Hall, the students raised about $1,300. They raised a similar amount in each of the following two days of their efforts.

The door-knocking effort and the generosity of first and second-year students led the group to raise over $4,500 in less than a week.

Matthew Loos, who joined Runde in going door-to-door to ask for donations, revealed they had to rely on trust, as most of the people they encountered didn’t know about the efforts. 

“It was like a ‘trust me bro’ thing, but if we were in a building where we knew the RAs or in a sophomore building were we knew people, we got the ‘is it real?’ question a little bit less,” Loos said.

However, this is not the first time that the students have organized to give back to some of the dining hall staff.

Months into his first semester at Fairfield, Traub decided to give back to some of the Tully Dining Common employees, gathering about $300 from his closest friends.

“I spent a lot of time in the Tully. I’m there every day, multiple times a day, so I really tried to create a relationship with the people that work there,” Traub said in an interview with The Rearview hours before the group of friends was scheduled to buy the gift cards for the Stags Hospitality staff.

They hope the work they started will continue and become part of the traditions carried on by Fairfield University students. Next year, they hope to raise $10,000 and create a movement that can be replicated at other campuses across the country.

“I think the real reason behind this is to inspire,” Runde said. “For me, I’ve always had a dream to try to inspire people to give back, especially here.”

The trio distributed the 108 $45 Amazon gift cards during a holiday party organized by Stags Hospitality on Dec. 16. 

“We are super appreciative of everyone in here. We know you guys work hard every day, and we wanted to give back and show you our appreciation,” Traub said to the Stag Hospitality workers on Monday. “We want to make sure you guys feel appreciated this holiday.”

After the announcement, the room was filled with many shows of appreciation from the workers and students, who also visited the employees working at the holiday event. 

Both students expect to share insights and videos on their social media pages to inspire other students and let those who donated money know how their money was spent throughout the process.