New bursary named in honour of Ange-Aimée Woods, BFA 00, GrDip 02.
Woods, a former CBC reporter and producer, died suddenly in July 2014 from a delayed allergic reaction to an insect bite. She was 41.
Through FundOne, Concordia’s exclusive crowdfunding platform, the Ange-Aimée Woods Memorial Bursary successfully hit its goal of $15,000 to create an in-course bursary for undergraduate journalism students at Concordia.
The campaign was spearheaded by Elisabeth Faure, BA 07, GrDip 10, who worked with Woods at the CBC.
Woods was born in Vancouver and raised in Tacoma, Wash. In 1991 she enrolled at Concordia to study cinema. Following her fine arts degree, she earned a graduate diploma in journalism.
That led to an internship and a full-time position with Canada’s national broadcaster. After a successful career with the CBC, Woods worked with Colorado Public Radio as the station’s first full-time arts reporter.
“Ange-Aimée was never too busy to take the time to help young journalists new to the CBC learn the ropes,” Faure says. “She was unfailingly encouraging and patient with her tips and advice, and I was lucky enough to continue to be mentored by her once I was hired on at CBC as a researcher.”
Outside the CBC, Woods and Faure became close friends.
“Her ability to live life to its fullest, convene her friends in social settings and always find cool new things to do made her a gem,” Faure says. “Beyond that, she was the kind of friend who was unfailingly supportive and always had your back.”
With hard work, the $15,000 campaign target was reached after over a year of fundraising events. “While donations came in steadily in the days and weeks following Ange-Aimée’s death, keeping the momentum going on a project like this can be challenging,” Faure says.
To match Woods’s passion for the arts, fundraising efforts included creative events. Among them were a raspberry social and “Oysters and Cava” fundraiser organized by Woods’s friends Michelle Marek and Anthony Kinik, a bowlathon organized by friend Judith Rudd, and a tour of haunted Montreal landmarks conducted by local historian Donovan King.
There was also a benefit CD created by the Passovah Music Festival.
“Creativity is a must, and in our case, fundraising events played a big part in our success,” Faure says. “Social media was a useful tool.”
The process to fund the campaign began with Concordia’s Advancement and Alumni Relations.
“Our role is to work with donors to match their interests with the needs of the university,” says Sophie Johnson, development officer in Advancement and Alumni Relations.
“When someone wants to create a bursary or other form of student support, we coordinate with the relevant departments, including the Office of Financial Aid and Awards and whatever faculty is affected, to make sure that the intended donations can be used in the way the donor wants.”
While the fundraising was challenging, Faure praises the support that Woods’s friends, family and media colleagues provided.
“Meeting this target was not easy and truly involved an army of people. The generosity shown by everyone was so inspiring and amazing,” she says.
“I think a big part of our success was that the campaign resonated emotionally with people. Not only was it in memory of someone so loved by so many, it was a very worthwhile cause, to help out the next generation of journalists.”
The Ange-Aimée Woods Memorial Bursary is a $500 annual, non-renewable award open to all undergraduate journalism students at Concordia who can demonstrate financial need. The fund is still accepting donations through concordia.ca/givenow.
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