Centraide at Concordia: 95% of the way to $195,000
This year, Concordia’s Centraide team happily noted that there were 93 new donors. “This bodes well for the future,” said campaign chair Bram Freedman. | Photo by Concordia University
The official closing date of Concordia’s 40th annual Centraide Campaign is Friday, December 12. So far, the university community has raised 95 per cent of its $195,000 fundraising goal.
“There are always people who like to leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute, and likewise there are people who like to give to Centraide at the last minute,” joked Centraide campaign chair Bram Freedman, Concordia’s vice-president of Development and External Relations, and Secretary-General.
At a special thank-you reception in the atrium of the J.W. McConnell Building (LB) on Friday, November 28, Freedman told the assembled campaign volunteers and supporters that he’s fairly confident the university will reach its goal, but it will require a strong, final push.
“There's plenty of time to tell your friends,” he said. Staff and faculty can donate to Centraide via payroll deduction or a one-time donation through Concordia’s secure system.
Both Freedman and the university’s president Alan Shepard thanked everyone who gave their support, solicited donations, sold raffle tickets and hosted Centraide events. The highlights of the 40th annual campaign included bake sales, three pasta lunches and the first-ever edition of Concordia’s Got Talent, a special lunchtime concert at the D.B. Clarke Theatre which raised $2,000.
This year, Freedman said, his Centraide team was particularly happy to note there were 93 new donors to the campaign. “This bodes well for the future.”
Concordia’s effort is part of the larger Centraide of Greater Montreal campaign, which aims to raise $57 million this year. The funds are distributed among 362 community agencies that help support one resident in seven in the region.
“Without these grants it is unlikely that the organizations would be able to raise the funds on their own,” Freedman stated in his official message at the launch of this year’s campaign.
“That is why we continue to support Centraide year after year. It is for the one in seven people in Montreal who use one or more of the agencies under the umbrella.”
At the thank-you event, Freedman invited members of the Centraide team onstage to draw the winning names in the campaign raffle and the 50-50 prize money.
The lucky winners were:
- First Prize (a 50-inch TV): Lori Feng
- Second Prize (a Nespresso Machine): Miriam Posner
- Third Prize (a tablet): Nancy Curran
- 50-50 Prize: Danielle Tessier
Learn about the history of Centraide at Concordia or donate now.