The Campus Buch Glühweinstand is back – now entering it’s 5th advent season, raising money for Mitte homeless shelter Klik Berlin. From early days as a rather haphazard and improvised experiment in a Bürocontainer in 2010, it’s now become a cornerstone of christmas tradition on the campus. All 30 volunteer shifts were booked out within 2 days – students, postdocs, TAs, group leaders, and science administrators from both MDC and FMP. The little hut was wheeled into place on its new Rasengittersteine by the Hausmeisters, decorated by the campus gardeners, and the race is now on between the volunteers to see who can turn in the biggest takings.
Lessons learned: volunteering for a good cause is a great way to build community, it takes time and a lot of invested effort, but it’s well worth the wait.