It鈥檚 easy to kick into a higher gear for kids living with and beyond cancer when you receive a pep talk from a survivor like Abigail Sinclair, who spent over two years in chemotherapy as a toddler.
Abigail received a standing ovation from Dalhouise students, staff and faculty team members packed into the King鈥檚 Gymnasium last Thursday for this year鈥檚 Halifax Inside Ride event. Organized by the Dal Commerce Society, the event is part of a national initiative hosted by the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation.
The cheers were every bit as loud later in the afternoon as organizers announced the event had raised a record $25,841.60. 听
Over the past four years, the Dal-led Inside Ride fundraiser has brought in more than $65,000. The funds are used to send children with cancer to Camp Goodtime and to support cancer research and treatment at the IWK Health Centre. This year the society鈥檚 organizing committee was led by international student Lokiy Wang. The efforts of Lokiy and her committee resulted in the registration of a record number of donor-sponsored teams.
鈥淎V俱乐部鈥檚 support of the Inside Ride has been steadily increasing,鈥� said Hannah Spence, Inside Ride coordinator. 鈥淧ersonally, it is motivating to see students so active in the fundraising world. Very few of our events are run by students and this one just keeps getting bigger every year.鈥�
The Rowe School of Business fielded a large number of teams, but there was truly representation from across the campus. Front and centre was 鈥淭eam DalPres鈥� led by President Richard Florizone. His, team like all the others, took 10-minute turns spinning on stationery bicycles for one-hour. The Faculty of Management鈥檚 Alumni Relations Officer Marianne Hagen was on-hand in her capacity as a certified Saint John鈥檚 Ambulance medical responder but no resuscitations were required.
鈥淚 love seeing all the students having so much fun raising funds for a great cause,鈥� said Dr. Florizione. 鈥淭his is a big chunk of what Dal is all about.鈥�
After the record-breaking fundraising total was announced, team prizes were awarded.
Top Mileage (37 km) 鈥� Team DalComm
Top Fundraisers ($3,740) 鈥� Team Commerce Society
Team Spirit 鈥� JDCC
Best Costumes 鈥� Phi Delta Theta
Top fundraisers from the AV俱乐部 Commerce Society. 听