Charity Ball donation fails to impress

Thankfully, this year’s Charity Ball committee has risen above the controversy surrounding last year’s event, which raised a measly $159.

Although this year’s executive team received negative publicity and attention from the Laurier community it is estimated that they have raised between $1,500 and $3,000 for Epilepsy Waterloo Wellington.

Avoiding the mistakes of the year before them, co-ordinator Claire Petch and her executive team admirably took steps to cut costs where they could.

Despite the amendments made to this year’s committee’s budget one still needs to ask: why is Charity Ball only donating one-tenth of its budget?

No doubt the committee is a great chance for Laurier students to volunteer. However, the very name of the committee has misled students and corporate sponsors to believe that 100 per cent of their money goes directly to the charity and not to fund an unnecessarily lavish spectacle. It is false advertising at best and dishonesty at worst.

In fact many other groups at Laurier have managed to raise far more money this year, often on a whim and with far smaller budgets.

Laurier’s Movember team, a group of students growing mustaches for prostate cancer raised just over $1,000, and a bunch of Pikes pulling a bus raised around the same. Just this month, 5 Days for the Homeless raised almost $8,000.

Charity Ball pales in comparison to smaller charity initiatives on campus, which when put in perspective, erodes what little respect the committee has regained this year.

The Laurier community should be wary of committees like Charity Ball who work all year towards a charity, while legitimizing the spending of copious amounts of money by claiming providing a platform for awareness. Awareness does make up for a measly monetary donation after eight months of holding fund raising events.