SYDNEY, N.S. -- A project at Cape Breton University is highlighting the need faced by international students who come to Canada and often can't afford basic furnishings for their off-campus apartments.

The project administered through the university's Rotaract Club with help from the Rotary Club, the Salvation Army, and other local service clubs, aims to help students who live in unfurnished apartments and either have sub-standard beds or no bed at all.

With a budget of $10,000, the project is assisting 47 first-year students who live off campus by providing free mattress and box spring sets.

Chigozie Okolie, a Rotary Club member who is also a research assistant in the Sydney, N.S., university's chemistry department, said a recent surge in the number of international students has contributed to an overall growth in the student population.

"Being an international student myself, I have first-hand experience with the struggle an international student faces, both emotionally and financially and in getting to adapt to a new environment," said Okolie, who helped create the project.

He said something as simple as basic furniture can be prohibitively expensive.

"When we started, we really didn't expect some of the stories we were hearing," Okolie said. "Some were, like, four or five cramped together in a room, with some sleeping on a bare floor."

All CBU students were invited to apply through the student union this month, and about 130 applications were received. They were assessed based on need, and the mattress sets are to be delivered by Rotary Club members on Friday.

Okolie, who came to Nova Scotia from Nigeria to study at Dalhousie University in 2016, said his first bed in Canada was a child-sized mattress given to him by a professor.

"I'm six foot-three, but I was very grateful to receive that mattress .... I cherished it," he said.

Okolie singled out Canadian generosity -- a factor, he said, in his decision to remain in Cape Breton to work and "pay it back." He said the generosity has been evident in the mattress project, as organizers received emails from families who donated mattresses after learning of the students' living conditions.

Okolie said it's not clear whether the program will be repeated in the future.

"Our major hope is that we start a conversation, or we start a program where people from the community get to understand this is a dire need," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2020.