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An initiative set up to “invigorate Dunedin’s social connectedness” is sending Otago students out into the local community to do odd jobs, with the aim of letting Dunedin residents know that we aren’t just OTP in Dunnaz the whole time we’re here. The Scarfie Card scheme, run by Student Life, is in its pilot year and looks to match young student volunteers with old people.
Student Life Campus Director Aaron Thompson set up Scarfie Card as a way of reconnecting students to their community, and diverting attention from Dunedin’s perceived student drinking culture. Critic wishes him the best of luck with his ambitious goal.
 

Thompson has said that students have taken some time to get their heads around the concept of getting something for volunteering. Critic can see why – “volunteering” tends to imply doing something out of the goodness of your heart, and receiving reward for one’s work is generally what a paid job is for. This scheme could perhaps be said to occupy an awkward middle ground.
 

Current jobs listed on the website include “Arrgh the triffids are up to the window sills”, “Can’t see out my windows :)” and “Mowing Lawns/trimming a bush”. At a remuneration rate of 60 “Scarfie Points” per hour of volunteer work, students can start redeeming their points for rewards after a minimum of three hours work.

 
Thompson describes the rewards provided by Scarfie Card as “stuff which is actually worthwhile” and that students “probably thought they would get balloons or lollipops”. Rewards listed on the Scarfie Card website include the option to cash in 180 points (three hours volunteering) for a trip to Moana Pool, worth a whopping $10.70. That said, the rewards scheme is nothing if not arbitrary, as 600 points (10 hours volunteering) can get you a day pass to Cardrona, priced at $73 for students.
 

As mentioned above, the scheme is currently in its pilot stages, and when Critic attempted to sign up to the website to get a profile, a message popped up saying “Oops! I'm sorry only students from Castle Street, Aquinas College and City College are part of the 2011 pilot”. Original devastation at not being allowed to join gave way to confusion about what students from Castle St have in common with first years at Aquinas and City College.

 
Scarfie Card currently has more than twenty partners, including the Dunedin City Council, Otago University Students Association, University of Otago, Age Concern and a variety of local businesses. Thompson recently told the Otago Daily Times that “more than a hundred students” had signed on to the scheme and at the time Critic was going to print there were 53 jobs listed.

 
In a seemingly unrelated move, the scheme is also distributing packs of cards to the students involved in the pilot scheme. The 20,000 decks of cards aim to “showcase the beauty of Dunedin” and list things to do and places to see in the city. The move is in line with the aim of the scheme to “change the perception among some students that excessive drinking was the norm”.
 

Critic recommends using the cards next time your flat is playing Circle of Death.