Each year on the last day of Orientation Week , first year students at Laurier spread out across Waterloo for Shinerama, a full day of fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. While this is their main day for raising funds, committees and volunteers have been working throughout the summer months, since Shine Conference at the end of May, to bring in money through online donations.
On August 15, Laurier Shinerama announced on their Facebook page that online donations broke $30,000: a new record for online donations. Totaled, they were $30,408.07.
“We actually set our online goal at $35,000. $30,000 was a new record and so we were really excited to hit that for online donations,” Olivia Montgomery, Laurier Shinerama coordinator, explained.
She also released that, on August 27, they broke $35,000.
“So we’re really excited about that.”
To raise money leading up to O-week, a competition is held between colour teams and committees, pitting teams against each other raise the most money. Each team raises money online, but they also participate in various events. Montgomery hired five executives at the beginning of her term, each of which is responsible for running an event as part of their campaign.
In July, O-week volunteers participate in a summer challenge- similar to what first year students do on Shine Day- campaigning around the city.
The Shinerama third annual softball tournament was held at the beginning of August.
Victoria Ehgoetz, a third year communication studies student at Laurier, is an icebreaker this year as well as a Shine volunteer. She attended the tournament, helping to run it as well as cheering on her icebreaker team.
“It was absolutely amazing,” she said. “It ran super smoothly and everyone seemed to have fun.”
Montgomery attributes the success of their campaign so far this year to the people who were involved.
“I was really excited to pump the O-team [Orientation team] up right off the bat, Montgomery said. “And honestly we have done what we’ve done because of the leadership of the entire O-team and the support of all the general volunteers for orientation week.”
Her goal for O-week is to donate $135,000 to Cystic Fibrosis Canada. This is more than they have aimed for in other years.
“We’re shooting higher than last year. $135,000…would be a fantastic number to reach, but I also feel like it’s really attainable with the team we have this year,” Montgomery said.
In order to achieve this, Montgomery explained that her focus for the week has been on educating about Cystic Fibrosis.
On raising $35,000 already, Ehgoetz commented, “It makes me so happy. Because I know it’s such a huge part of our school spirit. So it makes me really happy to know that we’re continually raising more money each year.”
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