A fundraising event “Paws and Play Fun Day,” organised by Project Management students of SAIT, on March 23, 2024, at BLVD Beltline.
Anthonette Sabanpan, Steering Committee shared her experience organizing this event with her group members.
According to course requirements and grouped by interests, students of the Project Management program are required to organize charity events. They aim to raise funds for chosen organizations.
Formed by hobbies and interest in animal welfare, and from a list of organizations students chose Calgary Humane Society. That is where all the proceeds of the event go to.
This event was the first one hosted by students where they were able to successfully pull up this fundraising together following a planning stage. The students feel fortunate enough to visit the charity and meet the staff, residents and adopted animals. Gives them a good fulfillment. It also keeps them motivated to move forward and organize more events in the future.
One of the challenging things that the students come across is, since it is their first time, they are given a task to choose a charity. Around a lot of lists and discussion, students resonate with their mission and vison. They decided to go with CHS because it is one of the oldest animal welfare shelters here in Calgary for about 100 years.
Apart from the grades and the requirement, students are encouraged to do more marketing advertisements for the event so that they can raise more funds and help as much as they can.
“Like, the highlight of the event, our event was held last Saturday at the boulevard. Roof deck launch, which was a light event for us, but for me, the highlight was aside from the games that we had, so it was like a bingo day. But one of the things that I personally love is the engagement we have with the new people,” said Sabanpan.
Students found meeting new people at the event very fulfilling and the fundraising means a whole lot to them. Students have been striving hard to achieve better results for the charity they hosted. They were guided by their professor all the way from planning, to budgeting and creating the project chart. Not to forget the risk management, a vital aspect as the students are still figuring out and don’t know how to mitigate risk. With the help and guidance of their professor the event was successful.
Working in a team with members having different schedules is challenging. There were a lot of ups and downs hosting the event, but the show was a big hit with positive feedback from the sponsors and from the people who attended the charity.
According to Sabanpan, initially 50 people were expected to attend the event, but an average of 30 people showed up. This event was an ice breaker, it helped students build connection.
The ticket sale of the event is considered as fundraising and the students managed to raise around $600 worth donation.
Overall, the charity was a roller coaster ride, a fun one for sure and the event was beyond what the students expected.
Anthonette Sabanpan, Steering Committee striking a causal pose at the John Ware Cafeteria, SAIT, Calgary on March 27,2024.
Anthonette Sabanpan, Steering Committee posed working on their upcoming event at the John Ware Cafeteria, SAIT, Calgary on March 27,2024
