Concordia students and faculty members volunteered their time, and dug deep into their pockets to raise over $10,000 Thursday, at the third annual Daffodil Day fundraiser, in support of the Canadian Cancer Society.
According to Lise Tavares, Concordia information services supervisor and an organizer of the event, “Concordia people are the best, their generosity is amazing.”
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. Last year in Quebec, 35,500 new cases of cancer were diagnosed, while 18,200 Quebecers lost their lives to the disease.
Volunteers worked all day selling daffodils, candies, chocolates and other paraphernalia at seven locations at the Sir George Williams and Loyola Campuses. According to Concordia events co-ordinator Nancy Curran, who has organized the fundraiser for the past three years, “Everybody contributed throughout the whole university.”
The highlight of the fundraiser was a two-hour “kick and bail” football event hosted by Marvin Cooper, Loyola facilities co-ordinator, for the second year in a row. The event took place in the “Daffodil Concordia Stinger Football Stadium” that was erected in the Atrium downtown, specifically for the event.
In keeping with the football theme, several players and cheerleaders from the Montreal Alouettes, and players from the Concordia Stingers football team participated in the event. According to Curran, this year’s theme “was a tribute to the Stingers who have been very successful this year, and also to our new stadium at Loyola.”
Montreal Alouettes long snapper and Concordia student Brad Collinson was eager to volunteer his time on behalf of Concordia and to support the Cancer Society. “If we start donating money for the cause you never know when you will need it, so that is the message we passed around to the people, you never know,” he said.
A steady flow of spectators gathered around the football stadium as the “kick and bail” event began. The event was kicked off by the football players, cheerleaders and Concordia’s mascot Buzz being sent to the football stadium, which was used as a makeshift prison.
The four celebrity judges were Nathalie Pomerleau, Concordia Student Union president, Alexis Robin, Commerce and Administrations Students’ Association president, Shahnaj Shimmy, Engineering and Computer Science Association president and Peter Schiefke, Arts and Science Federation of Associations V.P. They were very creative when convicting each player for a variety of offences. The players then had to obtain donations from the crowd to cover their fines and get out of jail.
The Montreal Alouettes cheerleaders were charged with illegally matching their wardrobe, including their pom-poms. Their fine was to collect money from the crowd and to dance to the “beat box” rhythm of Judge Robin. With his mouth alone, Robin made music that sounded like a three-piece band while the cheerleaders strutted their stuff.
Amanda Chicoine, a Montreal Alouette cheerleader and Concordia graduate, attended the event because of a sense of school spirit. Also, her mother has suffered from breast cancer over the past year. “Any way that I can help raise money for cancer research and cancer funding, I am right there,” said Chicoine.
Judge Schiefke convicted Buzz for the harassment of the Alouettes cheerleaders and fined him $200. Buzz was eventually sent to solitary confinement for flirting and the continuous illegal use of his stinger, and was slapped with a $650 fine. Unable to raise more than $450, Buzz was never released from confinement, so it looks like Concordia has lost their mascot.
Cooper also solicited spectators to send their friends and colleagues to the stadium by making a donation on their behalf. Dean of John Molson school of business, Gerry Tomberlin, was put in the slammer for matching his tie with his shirt, however, he was let off easy with an $80 fine.
Judge Robin was overjoyed by this event, “Sending your dean to jail is quite something,” he said. “No bad blood sir, but I had quite a ball.”
