Rotaract Club is set to host third cacti and succulent sale after two successful events

Wilfrid Laurier University Rotaract Club will be hosting their third cacti and succulent sale on Dec. 1 weeks after having two majorly successful fundraiser sales in the concourse.

Last winter term, the club held their very first fundraiser cactus sale, which was shockingly successful in regards to the huge buzz it created among students around campus.

“We had no idea how many we should have or if it would even create a buzz or anything like that, so we went with 40 and thought that would be a good starting point,” said Asad Raza, president of Rotaract Club.

The Rotaract Club members had planned to be in the Concourse the entire day selling the cacti; however, they were surprised that within the first 45 minutes their entire supply of cacti had been sold.

“It was something we really didn’t expect because our club hadn’t been that

active on campus up until that point,” said Raza.

Due to the popularity and success of their first sale, Rotaract decided to host another cacti and succulent sale this year.

Their second sale took place this past Nov. 8 and they brought in approximately 150 of the plants.

Within two hours of launching the events Facebook page, over 1,400 people were interested and over 600 had clicked to say they were planning on attending the event.

Before the sale had even started, a large lineup of people had formed across the concourse.

“That was a bit of another shock. After we had sold out, there were still so many people in line or on Facebook who said they really wanted to buy a cacti or succulent who didn’t get one,” said Raza.

Rotaract then decided to host a third cacti and succulent sale this coming Dec. 1 for those who missed out.

“We’re structuring it a little bit differently, what we’re doing is since we have other events for the club as well, we want to tie them in together,” said Raza.

The club plans on handing out pre-sale tickets to their cacti and succulent sale at their Professional Development event on Nov. 28, which will take place prior to the main sale.

Some of the individuals who come out to their networking event will have first access to the plants the next day.

The main sale will then take place on Dec.1.

Eligible individuals for the pre-sale include the first 50 to show up to the Professional Development event.

Proceeds from the upcoming sale will be donated towards Movember.

The club has created a Facebook page in support of their upcoming event.

The page has already garnered significant interest among viewers.

With over 1000 Laurier students selecting interested on the event page, the turnout expected on the first of December is huge.

The prices of the plants will vary from 6 to 10 dollars per plant.

The event is expected to runfrom 10 am to 4 pm during the day, however the high interest might cause the event to end early if the club runs out of products to sell.

The club feels their unique fundraising strategies account for the large amounts of success they have seen.

“I feel like it’s very different. That’s the idea behind it. We started with just cacti, and moving on to the succulents, which has appealed to even a bigger range of people.”

Rotaract strives to support both local and international charities through their community outreach, volunteer work and fundraisers.

“We have three type of events every school year, we have fundraising, community outreach and professional development,” said Raza.

The Professional Development event will provide students with interview tips, cover letter and resume advice, online branding, and general networking.

Rotaract’s community outreach includes working with Homeless for Waterloo, potentially 5 Days for the Homeless and organizations that support youth, such as OneRoof.

In addition to their partnership with Rotary Organization, the club makes it a goal to volunteer at Saint John’s Soup Kitchen at least once a month.