Every year staff and students at George Brown fundraise for the United Way
Haunted House by SA at the student center at St.James campus | Photo: Aliona Kuts / The Dialog
George Brown College (GBC) and the Student Association (SA) run an annual fundraising campaign to support the United Way. This charity provides people in Toronto with an opportunity to achieve the best they can in life. In 2015, the goal is to raise $160,000.
A pancake breakfast took place on Oct. 15 at all three campuses, giving students a chance to enjoy a delicious meal and donate $2 towards a good cause.
The haunted house, coming back for the second year, occupied the student life office on Oct. 21 and 22. Student life staff, along with ESL and international student volunteers, put the house together in about eight hours and challenged their ability to scare students.
This year the student life team added a fundraising element to the event. With a minimum donation of $1, a the Haunted House raised total of $400 over the two days.
“A big part of it wasn’t so much about how much we raise, it was more about student awareness,” said Joseph Stapleton, the manager of student Life. “We let them know that as a college we are raising money for the United Way to get them thinking about donating as well.”
He added he was more concerned and excited about student’s participation, not the total amount and they didn’t turn anyone away if they didn’t have money.
The CN Tower, the seventh tallest building in the world, will open its 1,776 step stairwell for the annual United Way fundraising climb on Nov. 7.
Norman Javier, a student life specialist and a member of the United Way committee at GBC, created his own team for college back in 2011. He said the goal for 2015 is to have a team of 50-70 people from the college and the SA to raise at least $2,000.
Javier has been doing the climb for eight years now: “It’s my way of supporting the United Way and the students who are a part of the team.”
Rachel Grace, the SA’s director of campus life, is one of the SA’s team of eight staff and board members who have already signed up to take part in the climb.
“As an organization that strives to support students and our community the United Way is a great charity that we’re proud to be supporting,” said Grace.
“The traffic light party was one of our most popular events last year and we wanted to leverage that for the United Way this year,” said Neil Cumberbatch, the SA’s senior co-ordinator of events and marketing.
