"Solidarity" is one of the key words that governs the community life of the school's students. This motto, which arises spontaneously in student interactions, is put into practice by some students who wish to volunteer in projects serving the most disadvantaged.
SOLIDARITY SUPPORTED BY THE GASOLE ASSOCIATION (GADZARTS SOLIDAIRES)
The GaSole (Gadzarts Solidaires) association, present on all campuses, carries out humanitarian actions and is involved in local, national, and international projects. On the Angers campus, the office is made up of six students responsible for finding new social action projects and proposing partnerships with local association leaders to lend them a helping hand, such asSecours Populaire FrançaisandRestos du Coeur. Arts et Métiers students thus Arts et Métiers what they learn from Gadz'Arts' humanities program beyond the school walls.
“We are, above all, a bridge between organizations in need of volunteers and students who want to get involved but don’t know where to turn,” explains Jules, a sophomore in the Grande Ecole Engineering Programme president of GaSole on the Angers campus.
A STRONG PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN ARTS ET MÉTIERS SECOURS POPULAIRE
For example, this commitment to local organizations is exemplified by a strong partnership betweenSecours Populaire andGasole, which involves the school’s students in initiatives such as the “Chantier Solidaire” in Angers. This project to renovate the organization’s new premises received assistance, over the course of a weekend, from about a hundred students from the Grande Ecole Engineering Programme to help move the association’s old premises and set up their new spaces. “One hundred and fifty pairs of hands make a huge difference during a move!”explains one of the project coordinators. This partnership with the campus has led to other initiatives, such as the fundraising drive during the"Green Santas"campaign,duringwhich some thirty volunteers collected over €1,000 in a single afternoon from residents in downtown Angers. These donations are reinvested in the purchase of Christmas gifts for children whose parents are facing financial hardship. Committed to offering more and more local projects, GaSole is also developing partnerships with other organizations suchas Restos du Coeurfor food drives, as well as with the City Hall for clean-up efforts targeting litter in public spaces and along the banks of the Maine River.
A LONG-STANDING PARTNERSHIP
A true spearhead of solidarity within the student community, one of GaSole's objectives is to"pass the torch from one year to the next to new students joining the school by involving them as early as possible." This helps them understand that the values of solidarity and mutual aid instilled in them can take the form of concrete actions to help disadvantaged people. In addition to its local commitments, the association organizes an annual humanitarian trip to Senegal with the aim of providing funds and additional manpower for a project to build a school for street children.
By developing access to volunteering forArts et Métiers students, the GaSole association builds bridges between the main players in social action in Angers and the driving force of young people who are eager to get involved, drawing on one of the core values ofArts et Métiers engineersArts et Métiers solidarity.
Article written in collaboration with Enguerrand Armanet, a sophomore in the Grande Ecole Engineering Programme Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers
