UCalgary alum reflects on life-changing moment for her young family

Trudging across a snow-covered Crowchild Trail towards the University of Calgary, Barb Cameron only wanted to do one thing: buy some milk for her two-year-old son.

While she wanted to stay focused on her studies, the adult learner with a family at home was at her wit’s end on that cold late-1987 morning.

Cameron's then-husband was between jobs, and their bank account was emptying fast.

As she made her way onto campus, Cameron took the same route she had always taken to get to her first class. Only this time, she noticed something different.

“I had never seen the sign that said ‘Student Services,’ but that day it was like it was lit up for me,” Cameron says. “I thought, ‘I’m a student and I need some help.’ So I’ll just walk in and see what happens.”

Greeted by a welcoming staff and a helping hand, it’s a day that changed her life and one that the Faculty of Arts Communications Studies alum, BA’91, recalls vividly as she looks to help a next generation of students.

A helping hand

Cameron says she remembers the face of the woman who helped her, but wishes she could remember her name.

Afraid of being judged for the situation she and her family were in, Cameron says she was humbled by the warmth and compassion shown, which stood out to her the most.

“There is pride involved when you have to say you’re broke and need help,” she says. “She just let me go – she let me cry and let me tell my story.”

What happened next shook Cameron to her core.

“She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out $75 cash and said, ‘This is for you to get groceries. If you can’t ever pay it back, that’s okay, don’t worry about it,’” the former student says. “I was just stunned.”

The worker also gave Cameron some information for support, including an application form for a Santas Anonymous program which faculties had set up to adopt families in need for Christmas.

A Christmas to remember

The surprises and good fortune didn’t stop there.

Cameron says she used the money to buy her son some milk and other family necessities, then got to work on the applications.

Set on providing something – anything – for her child, she filled out the forms she had been provided in hopes of getting one or two items on her family’s wish list.

“Oh, my goodness, the day the Santas Anonymous volunteers were delivering, it was like a convoy of people with boxes coming into the house,” Cameron says. “They got everything on our list.”

It wasn’t just gifts either, as the family received a full Christmas dinner with turkey and all the fixings.

Feeling vulnerable again on her doorstep, Cameron says the family would have had a very different, low-key Christmas had it not been for that gesture.

The need is still great

Today, many UCalgary students are still in need throughout the year.

While Cameron was able to go into the Student Services office at the time – and it continues to help the UCalgary community today – others have also benefited from the SU Campus Food Bank.

Established in 1993 as a depot of the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank, it soon outgrew its role and became part of the roster of services provided by the UCalgary Students’ Union.

Volunteer Services co-ordinator Lila Webb says emergency hampers are provided for students experiencing food insecurity, with demand increasing from 627 clients and 319 hampers to 1,325 clients and 957 hampers between 2014 and 2024.

“Many students on campus (nearly 20 per cent) have families to care for in addition to their schooling, and this can result in specific needs such as sourcing winter clothing, affordable child care, and food support for more than one person,” says Webb, BA’24. 

“Though emergency food support can alleviate immediate impacts of food insecurity, it isn’t solved with a single hamper. Nearly 60 per cent of our requests come from returning clients.”

Aside from offering emergency food hampers to UCalgary students, staff, faculty and alumni (up to two years), the SU Campus Food Bank runs an Adopt-A-Family program in the fall that supports students with dependents in purchasing gifts and winter clothing for their children.

Paying it forward

Cameron hopes current students learn from her experience and understand that - whether its personal, financial or academic - a hand up is just a call, email or visit away.

“Don’t be afraid to take that step through the door because there is a welcoming and compassionate group of people willing to help,” she says.

Having seen firsthand what that support can do, especially for young families, Cameron does her part by giving back to Christmas charities in Vancouver, where she lives now, or in the local communities where family members live.

“I have grandchildren now and we all decided that part of my gift to them every Christmas will be some sort of charitable donation,” she says. “It’s a part of who we are now. They will get some cash for themselves, some cash to add to their savings and a donation in their name so they know that, by giving, they are receiving.”

In the spirit of giving, Cameron says she is also meeting with her lawyers soon to update her will, which she will be looking to bequeath some money to the University of Calgary.

It would be a “full-circle moment” for Cameron as she looks to give mature students or single parents the same feelings of gratitude for the support that helped get her through one of the toughest times of her life.