A gift to the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre
The WPIRG Board is proud to announce the establishment of a grant fund supporting Indigenous graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo in actions, demonstrations, conferences, or forums related to social and environmental research and justice. The Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC) and St. Paul’s University College will award several of these grants each year.
ONGOING INDEPENDENT PROJECTS
These long-time WPIRG action groups continue to operate independently. Contact them to see how you can support their work.
Browse our former projects here.
FFUW / FOSSIL FREE UW
The student-led Fossil Free UW facilitates learning, discussion, decision-making, and action to make UW a climate justice leader. Divestment is a first step in engaging the campus community to take ownership of decisions about our funds and our futures currently being made by others on our behalf. FFUW supports other grassroots efforts while recognizing the frontline work being done by indigenous communities whose land we all occupy, and strive to be effective allies in the intertwined fight for survival, self-determination, and environmental stewardship.
QTFF / RAINBOW REELS QUEER & TRANS FILM FESTIVAL
Since 2000, Rainbow Reels has been an independent arts collective run by volunteers, local artists and organizers. Through storytelling, the festival builds a rainbow community in Waterloo Region that fights against systemic oppression by showcasing the struggle and beauty of 2SLGBTQI+ people through storytelling. A cornerstone of the Kitchener-Waterloo arts community, Rainbow Reels was supported by WPIRG for over 15 years. Its annual showcase of performances, cabarets, comedy nights, poetry slams, photo and visual art exhibits, zine fairs, holigay markets, dances, workshops and panels continues to increase awareness of the many issues that permeate the greater queer/trans community.
FNB-KW / FOOD NOT BOMBS KITCHENER
Food Not Bombs is a volunteer-run group that serves free vegetarian and vegan food to the community every Saturday outside Kitchener City Hall. Meals are cooked at the Working Centre using surplus food donated from grocery stores, bakeries, and markets. FNB is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to nonviolent social change and the belief that food is a right, not a privilege. Founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1980 by anti-nuclear activists, FNB-KW is one of hundreds of autonomous chapters operating globally, and was supported by WPIRG for over 20 years. Please visit FNB on Facebook for updates on servings and volunteer opportunities.
RECYCLE CYCLES
Established in 1993 with the assistance of WPIRG, the volunteer-led Recycle Cycles is dedicated to cycling and cycling issues. As a community bicycle shop, Recycle Cycles’ focus is on promoting cycling by making bicycle purchase, maintenance and repair accessible and affordable. Recycle Cycles volunteers work with members of the public to provide assistance in their self-directed repair of their bicycles. Now supported by the Working Centre in Kitchener, Recycle Cycles continues to offer an important service to the community. The Waterloo chapter has also inspired the establishment of Ottawa’s first bike co-op by University of Waterloo Environment alumni.
OPIRG NETWORK
Established in 1973, WPIRG (formerly OPIRG Waterloo / Ontario Public Interest Research Group - Waterloo) was the first PIRG in Canada. Since the establishment of the OPIRG provincial network in 1976, WPIRG was one of many Public Interest Research Groups both across the province and the country. We encourage KW community members to connect with LSPIRG (Laurier) or find other provincial or national chapters here:
COLLABORATIONS
Through co-organizing and our Campus, Community and Indigenous Solidarity funds, we are proud to have worked with and supported countless campus groups over the years. Their work continues. Connect with them.
BASE / Black Association for Student Expression
WPIRG and BASE were close collaborators sharing networks and co-organizing campus events, notably the 2018 conference Getting Organized: Fighting Racism and White Supremacy. WPIRG was a consistent funder of BASE’s Black History Month initiatives. Staff also offered their advice and support while BASE volunteers laboured to establish Waterloo’s first racialized student centre, RAISE.
EWB / Engineers Without Borders
The founders of Waterloo’s EWB chapter, Rob Reid and Majd Al-Shihabi, were active WPIRG members. Their initiatives in Engineering earned them our inaugural Social Justice Award.
FEMPHYS
WPIRG was a regular funder and supporter of FEMPHYS programming. FEMPHYS and WPIRG, along with BASE, Women in Science, GLOW Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity, and the Institute for Quantum Computing, co-hosted a notable 2016 guest lecture titled “Let Physics Be the Dream it Used to Be” by Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, an American theoretical cosmologist and UW Perimeter Institute Alumna.
SFPR / Students for Palestinian Rights
SFPR began as a WPIRG action group in 2002 before becoming a club under Feds. WPIRG continued to support SFPR through co-sponsored events and more. SFPR co-hosted the panel “Anti-Zionism as Anti-Racism” at the 2018 conference Getting Organized: Fighting Racism and White Supremacy.
MSA / Muslim Students Association
WPIRG was a regular core funder of the MSA’s annual Islam Awareness Month, and a close collaborator in the exchange of networks, volunteers, and resources.
