Nine years ago, residence students at Dal started a charity fundraiser for the IWK Health Centre, centered around three annual sporting events. Two years they reached the $100,000 mark. When they present a $15,000 cheque from the IWK Residence Charity Series to the hospital during its annual telethon in June, the total will be $140,000.
The residences are split between two teams — Trojans (Howe Hall, O’Brien Hall, Gerard Hall, and Mini-Rez) and Bighorns (Shirreff Hall, Eliza Richie Hall, and Risley Hall) — that take their friendly rivalry onto the soccer pitch (Charity Kick-Off), the basketball court (Tip-Off), and hockey rink (Face-Off).
But there are other events held during the year to help raise money for the IWK including, pie-in-the-face, candy grams, Valentine’s Day flowers, pancake night, a player auction, and a Super Bowl party.
“The players have to volunteer for an hour at each of the events, which works out to five hours per player,” says Andrew Cherubini, one of the Trojans managers and a fifth-year political science major. “We enjoy what we do and the benefits we get out of it.”
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This year’s Charity Face-Off was played at the Halifax Forum on March 22. Tickets were $7 in advance (t-shirt included if bought in residence) and $10 at the door.
“The entire organizing committee is pumped for all the energy in the building and support throughout the whole year for the IWK,” said Kelsey Mooney, the Bighorns manager, right before the big game.
Trojans and Bighorns fans cheered and waved signs in support of their players as red, black, and gold jerseys filtered out of the Bighorns side, and orange, black- and white-striped jerseys filtered out of the Trojans dressing room.
The Trojans scored first, but the Bighorns managed to pull ahead in the third period. The lead was short-lived, though, as the Trojans came back for an 8-5 win in front of the loud and enthusiastic crowd.
As the third period started, a fish was thrown on the ice by some Trojans fans. It’s a tradition. “Someone always brings a fish to throw on the ice — a cod, or some other kind of East Coast marine animal,” says Andrew. “It started in Howe Hall, and now whichever side throws the fish on the ice, their team gets a two-minute penalty.”
It’s that kind of school spirit that draws students back to residence — and the fundraisers — year after year. Andrew moved back into residence in his third year after living off campus in for a year. “I wanted to get the most out of my university experience at Dal,” he says.
“I’ve made great friends over the four years we’ve been working together on this,” says Rebecca Ocana, the Trojans fundraising coordinator and fourth-year marine biology student. “We’ve put in about eight hours a week into setting up, having meetings and managing the players. It’s been a wonderful experience. I absolutely love it and wish I could be involved for longer. But unfortunately you have to graduate and move on.”
