Annual Shinerama baseball tournament raises money for Cystic Fibrosis

On Sunday July 29, Wilfrid Laurier University students spent the day at Waterloo Park for the eighth annual Shinerama softball tournament.

Shinerama is a nationwide fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) research and treatment. The charity first started at Laurier in 1961 and has since grown into one of the largest fundraising initiatives amongst post-secondary institutions in Canada.

Laurier has been the number one Shinerama fundraiser for two consecutive years among Canadian post-secondary institutions, accumulating over $125,000 in funds last year.

“The main goal for the event today is to raise as much money for Cystic Fibrosis research as we can,” said Brendan Marner, special events executive for Laurier Shinerama.

“We’re having fun out here, we’re playing softball. [There are] people who don’t get a chance to come out and do this every day who have to worry about medication and treatment; it goes to show how lucky we are and how we take it for granted, so we really want to give back.”

The softball tournament is one of various fundraising initiatives taking place over the summer. For example, on Saturday July 28, Laurier’s Shinerama team hosted a silent auction at Wilf’s which raised $750.

The softball tournament raised $140 through entry fees paid by students participating in the tournament. The tournament also featured a barbecue lunch consisting of 100 per cent donated items, allowing for larger profits to be accumulated.

“We also get to raise awareness because people see us in our shirts — a ton of people come up and ask us what we’re doing here today,” said Klaudia Wojtanowski, fourth-year bachelor of business administration.

Later this month, students will participate in the Shinerama Dodgeball tournament.

These initiatives lead up to the main event — Shine Day — which takes place on Sept. 9.

“Shine day is when all the first-years come out and we have them set up on different locations across Waterloo,” Marner said.

“We ask people to chuck their change for Shinerama. It’s a pretty popular charity in Waterloo so a lot of people know about it. On that day we raise upwards of $70,000.”