Final stretch for Centraide
Concordia’s annual Centraide campaign is wrapping up this week, and the university is still some distance from reaching its $200,000 fundraising goal. At press time, the campaign has raised $158,078.
“We are hoping that everyone who hasn’t already will pitch in and help us cross the finish line,” says Enza De Cubellis, a member of the Centraide Committee, and director of administration for the Office of the Vice President, Institutional Relations and Secretary-General, which runs the campaign for Concordia.
Concordia’s campaign is part of the larger Centraide of Greater Montreal campaign, which aims to raise $59 million this year. The money raised is distributed among 360 community agencies that help support over half-a-million people. So far, Concordia’s campaign, at 78 per cent of its goal, is slightly outperforming the city’s, at 73 per cent.
The Concordia campaign officially ends Thursday, November 17 with the final pasta luncheon in the lobby of the downtown J.W. McConnell Library Building (1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.) between 11:30 am and 2:30 p.m.
The previous pasta luncheon, held November 10 on Loyola Campus, raised $1,077.
November 17 is also the final day to buy raffle tickets, and to bid in the silent auction. Tickets for the raffle are $10 each, or three for $20, and the prizes include a 40"- and a 46"-LCD TV and an iPad2. The raffle draw will take place after the pasta lunch, and the organizers will also announce the highest bidder in the silent auction, who will take home a hockey stick autographed by Canadiens Captain Brian Gionta.
This year, however, there will be one more opportunity to support Centraide at Concordia once the official campaign has come to a close: the first annual Centraide Community Celebration Meal. The luncheon will be held on Friday, December 2 at four different locations around campus. Tickets are $10, and can be purchased until Thursday, November 24 by contacting:
- Sharon McLean at 514-848-2424, ext. 3497 or smclean@alcor.concordia.ca
- Filomena De Gennaro at 514-848-2424, ext. 2650 or gennaro@alcor.concordia.ca
Participants should mention if they would like a vegetarian meal. All participants will be entered in a draw to win a pair of tickets to a Montreal Canadiens game.
De Cubellis reminds members of the Concordia community that donating through the university to the campaign means their name is automatically entered in a prize draw. “As soon as you donate online, whether it’s by credit card or through a payroll deduction, whether it’s a one-time donation or monthly, your name is entered in the draw. Or even if you hand in a pledge form; as long as you donate through the Concordia campaign, you’re in.”
Prizes include two Nikon camera kits, a $75 gift certificate for Restaurant Fino, three $200 vouchers toward tuition fees at the Centre for Continuing Education, a voucher for a one-night stay at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Westmount, two tickets to the Centaur Theatre production of In Absentia, and a $50 gift certificate from Royal Photo.
In 2010, Montreal’s Centraide campaign raised $55,150,000, most of which came from donors in the workplace. The lion’s share of the money raised (87 per cent) by the Centraide of Montreal Campaign goes to help the agencies supported by the campaign. The rest goes to cover the campaign’s administration and communication costs. Centraide of Greater Montreal estimates that the agencies supported by its campaign help over half-a-million people in the city.
There are 25 Centraide ambassadors working in the various departments on campus, and anyone who wishes to learn more about the campaign, help out, buy a raffle ticket, or make a donation is encouraged to contact them by emailing: centraide@concordia.ca.
Concordia Centraide campaign events
What: Pasta luncheon
When: Thursday, November 17, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Lobby of the J.W. McConnell Library Building (1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.), Sir George Williams Campus
What: Centraide Community Celebration Meal
When: Friday, December 2, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Where:
a) Seventh floor of the Henry F. Hall Building (1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.), Sir George Williams Campus
b) Room EV 2.260, Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (1515 Ste-Catherine St. W.), Sir George Williams Campus
c) Room MB 2.130, John Molson School of Business Building (1450 Guy St.), Sir George Williams Campus
d) Loyola Chapel, Loyola Campus (7141 Sherbrooke St. W.)
Related links:
• Concordia Centraide Campaign
• Centraide of Greater Montreal
• “Helping Those in Need” — NOW, November 1, 2011
• “Month-long Centraide appeal begins week of October 17” — NOW, October 18, 2011