‘Shine’ gets surprise donation; raise $161,970

(Graphic by Kate Turner)
(Graphic by Kate Turner)

Torrential downpour did not stop students at Wilfrid Laurier University from shining on Shine Day, held this past Saturday.

The Laurier Shinerama campaign overall raised $161,970  before expenses, topping last year’s total. Once expenses have been calculated, the Shine team will know whether they accomplished their goal of donating $135,000 to Cystic Fibrosis Canada.
Campaigning spans from the Year End Party until Shine Day, which takes place on the last day of Orientation Week (O-Week).

“I am so thrilled with how the whole campaign went,” said Olivia Montgomery, Laurier Shinerama coordinator. “I could not have asked for a better team and I could not have asked for more support from the Orientation Week volunteers.”

In particular, she emphasized her appreciation for her executive team.

“The amount of work my exec team put in was absolutely phenomenal,” she continued. “They worked so hard and made a lot of amazing things happen to make the campaign as successful as it was.”

This year’s total received an unexpected, last-minute boost from outside sources.

The night before Shine Day, Montgomery received an exciting phone call. The School of Business and Economics Students’ Society (SBESS) 2013 Major League Summer Baseball (MLSB) conveners wanted to make a donation of $7,500 to Shinerama.
Michael Simone, Duncan McConney, Ian deRuiter, Matthew Bagin and Jennie McPherson presented the money to Montgomery on behalf of MLSB on Sunday in the 2-4 Lounge.

Simone explained that the team had a great summer and their numbers were better than expected. As a result, they decided they would give back to the Laurier community.

“Although we’re not affiliated with Laurier, the Laurier community is a big part of what we do, so we decided to support them,” he said.

Montgomery said, “The donation is incredible because the team had already helped Shinerama by supplying the bats and balls for the softball tournament.”

The softball tournament was Laurier Shinerama’s third annual, an event held each summer to raise additional funds for their campaign.

From the beginning of the season, the team knew they would donate what they had left over to Shinerama. They had their donation ready since early July, but kept it a surprise so that it would be more exciting.

Shine Day has taken place at Laurier since 1961. From shining shoes, to standing on the streets yelling “chuck your change,” students and the Shinerama team have drawn on a variety of fundraising ideas to collect money over the years.

Groups are sent out to stations across Waterloo, Kitchener and even Cambridge to think of creative ways to fundraise.
Breanne Malczyk, a first-year communications student who participated in the event, explained, “Shinerama was a great team experience; our floor got to bond and raise money together for a good cause. The community response was amazing when coming together to raise money.”

The students worked together with their floor mates and with the help of their breakers to raise money as they accepted donations from the community. Teams spent up to seven hours outside fundraising.

As a breaker of O-Week, Stephen Solda, a third-year business student, explained, “In just one week my group went from strangers, to new friends, who could come together for a great cause.”

“Considering it rained it went so well,” Montgomery commented. “It was incredible that everyone was so willing to come out despite the rain to be able to raise as much money as we did.”

 

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