Arts could win $1,000 donation towards campaign
SINGING, DANCING, AND fundraising—all that and more can be seen in the Student Association of the Faculty of Arts’ (SAFA) video entry into a national Shinerama video competition for the grand prize of a $1,000 donation to Cystic Fibrosis Canada made on behalf of the winning university. SAFA is in a tight race with Western University—they’re hoping to beat their competitor by the end of the contest on Dec. 2.
Drew Dudley, founder of professional development company Nuance Leadership, is the creator of the contest and a Shinerama supporter and volunteer.
“We live in a world where everyone has a camera and everyone is making these wonderful videos,” said Dudley. “The central Shinerama committee doesn’t usually get footage, so instead of just giving $1,000 to Shinerama, why don’t we ask the schools to capture this event?”
Shinerama, raises funds and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. It is the largest post-secondary school fundraiser in Canada, beginning in the 1960s with students shining shoes to collect donations. Today, the campaign involves 60 colleges and universities, raising $1 million annually.
“Cystic fibrosis is a genetic fatal disease,” said Nadine Imbleau-Redman, regional director of the Eastern Ontario Shinerama chapter. “It attacks the respiratory and digestive systems. Most people that are born with it usually have a short life expectancy.”
Imbleau-Redman said the life expectancy for those diagnosed with cystic fibrosis went up by 30–40 years thanks to the money being put toward research.
Dudley asked colleges and universities to submit videos illustrating their Shinerama fundraising efforts during frosh week.
“What I wanted to do is see if people can tell the Shinerama story from their own perspective to have more of a record of what happens every year,” he said. “We have trouble keeping a record of all the amazing people [involved], so I thought we could kill two birds with one stone. When people see success, they want to emulate it.”
For universities, most of the fundraising takes place during 101 Week, but the SAFA decided to make an exception this year.
“It was an opportunity we were capable of taking on,” said Sean Green, SAFA president, on their decision to enter the contest. “Our volunteers have been amazing this year.”
The winner of the contest will be the video with the most “likes” on Facebook, its creators walking away with the prize.
William Joyce, the SAFA philanthropic commissioner, said he and volunteer Natasha Belanger put a lot of effort into the video to make it truly reflect the Shinerama experience.
“I think we made big strides this year in terms of engaging volunteers and making more money,” said Joyce. “We’re having a lot more fun this year, which is something the video brought out.
“Shinerama is something that, to me, is very ingrained in the university culture,” he added. “To see it go from a little idea to something that spread over the entire country to something that every volunteer experiences during their 101 Week, I think what we’ve been able to accomplish is pretty incredible.”
If they win, the SAFA will have raised $14,050.01 toward their Shinerama campaign this year.
“There’s been a lot of development in treatments, and now by funding more research, there have been some big breakthroughs where they’re confident in the foreseeable future there will be a way to control cystic fibrosis, if not cure it,” she said. “Shinerama is such a huge fight for cystic fibrosis. Without the continued support, we will not be able to reach that cure.”
—Jane Lytvynenko
