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BDN boosts UMaine Trio Upward Bound for charity collecting events – UMaine News – University of Maine

BDN boosts UMaine Trio Upward Bound for charity collecting events - UMaine News - University of Maine

The Bangor Daily News shared that the University of Maine’s TRIO Upward Bound Program, which provides opportunities for students to succeed in precollege performance and to prepare them for higher education pursuits, is collecting items for the Black Bear Exchange at UMaine, the Caring Community Cupboard in Old Town, and the Bangor Humane Society. On Monday, July 11, Tuesday, July 12, Monday, July 18, and Tuesday, July 19 from 1:30–4:30 p.m., students will be stationed outside of Orono IGA to collect a variety of items, including nonperishable food, lightly used clothing, cleaning supplies and pet food.

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Charity ride for guide dogs makes big return to southwestern Ontario

Charity ride for guide dogs makes big return to southwestern Ontario

A group of motorcycles made their way from Oakville to Breslau on Saturday to raise money for guide dogs through the Lions Foundation of Canada.

The foundation provides dogs for people with medical and physical disabilities to help empower them to a life of independence.

The Ride for Dog Guides event is a way to raise money for the foundation in order to pay for the $35,000 price tag that comes with raising and training of dog guides.

“We rely on donors and fundraising events like the Ride for Dog Guides to help us reach those goals and achieve our mission,” said Andrea Stevens, the manager of events for the foundation.

Due to the pandemic, the event was virtual for two years. Organizers weren’t sure what to expect for the turnout this time, but said the 80 riders that signed up this year was more than in 2019.

One of the ride participants and lead fundraisers from the event, Robert Stanley, said he has seen the impact dog guides have had on people’s lives.

“I’ve just been very fortunate to see that and once you do it, you want to get involved,” said Stanley. “I love motorcycling, so of course I’m going to want to ride, but seeing that the money is going to such an important cause, that’s got me.”

Stanley has raised over $80,000 through donations for the foundation since he started participating in 2016. A dog guide was named after Stanley to recognize his contributions to the foundation.

Alex, an 11-year-old boy living with autism, now has the dog. Stanley said he has seen how the dog guide has made an impact in Alex’s life.

“They’ve given the honour of showing me the changes in Alex over those two to three years that he’s had Stanley and he’s a different boy,” said Stanley.

According to Alex, his canine companion Stanley has been a big help.

“Since my dog has been at school, I’ve gotten a lot more help,” said Alex. “Every time I am going bed, he helps me usually before I go to bed, because I’m usually afraid of the dark sometimes.

“He helps me get through tough times.”

Stevens said the pandemic has hindered how many dogs are available, but this year they are hoping to provide at least 150 dog guides to people like Alex.

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At least 31 killed in stampede during charity event in southern Nigeria

At least 31 killed in stampede during charity event in southern Nigeria

A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people dead and seven injured, police told the Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that organizers said aimed to “offer hope” to the needy.

The stampede at the program organized by the Kings Assembly pentecostal church in Rivers state involved many people who were seeking assistance, according to Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman in the state.

Many of the victims came to an annual “Shop for Free” charity program organized by the church. Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million people live in poverty, according to government statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. but dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. Somehow they broke open the locked gate, she said, adding that the seven injured were “responding to treatment.”

Videos from the scene showed the clothing, shoes and other items meant for the beneficiaries. Doctors and emergency workers treated some of the injured as they lay in the open field.

The “Shop for Free” event was suspended while authorities investigated how the stampede occurred.

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Event: Charity BBQ

Event: Charity BBQ

The Rotary Club of Kenora is hosting a fundraising BBQ for the Kenora and Lake of the Woods Regional Community Foundation 25 in 5 Giving Challenge. Support the Community Foundation endowment fund.
Price: by donation
Date: Friday, May 13, 2022
Location: Copperfin Credit Union
Time: 11:00am to 2:00pm
Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Chips, Soft Drinks

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DC Charity Society preps community dinner, garage sale events

DC Charity Society preps community dinner, garage sale events

Pair of charites combine forces for April 16 community meal.

With warmer weather here – volunteers with the DC Charity Society have a pair of events they are prepping for.  

A Community Easter Dinner is slated for April 16, while a garage sale fundraiser goes Sunday, April 24.  

Society president Sandra Biddulph says the group is still taking donations for he garage sale, and is glad to be working with St. Marks Soup Kitchen on the dinner.  

“It is great to partner with another charity in Dawson Creek. To attend, we’d like you to register to get a handle on numbers.”

The dinner goes 3 to 5pm on April 16, while the garage sale goes 9am to 12pm April 24 at the Pouce Coupe Legion.  

To register for the dinner call 250-782-2939, or email dccharitysociety2012@gmail.com to donate to the garage sale.

editor@dcdn.ca

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E-sports charity event is just the beginning

E-sports charity event is just the beginning

WATERLOO REGION — Three local e-sports enthusiasts can win a combined total of $750 worth of prizes at an upcoming charity tournament.

The Waterloo E-Sports Commission (WREC) is hosting the event starting at 10 a.m. on April 10, where players will battle it out in four rounds of Rocket League.

Each round will last about an hour and prizes include gift cards, tickets and passes to local events.

“This is one small step toward a bigger goal of ultimately hosting these larger tournaments and competitions, but also growing the (e-sports gaming) sector as a whole,” said Jeremy Dueck, the commission’s chair.

This includes through collegiate programs, and building regular events and leagues.

Rocket League is a game where players use cars to play soccer in a virtual arena.

The final two championship rounds will be livestreamed at 2 p.m. so that viewers can interact with each other.

Registration opened in early March at $10 per person, allowing those of all ages, both local and those from out of the region.

“There’s this phenomenal grassroots level of e-sports locally,” said Dueck.

“Finding out who enjoys playing e-sports, who enjoys building games and getting those people involved — I think it’s really about participation and community engagement.”

Participants will play from their homes, with use of video cameras encouraged.

The local e-sports commission’s vice chair, Allister Scorgie, hopes this event, as the commission’s first tournament, will be one of many. He looks forward to possibly doing in-person events in the future.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is create community using e-sports.”

“It’s gone from an activity that a lot of people did on their own and played from home, to something where there is a social component to it,” said Scorgie.

The group hopes to reach 120 players who would sign up to join the event. The commission partnered with the City of Kitchener to host it.

All of the tournament’s proceeds will go to the Every Kid Counts Program, which gives children with disabilities access to City of Kitchener and City of Waterloo summer camps. Dueck said a $400 donation would put a child in summer camp for a week.

To sign up for the tournament, go to www.challenge.wrec.gg.

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Top ballet performers ‘Dance for Ukraine’ in charity event

Top ballet performers 'Dance for Ukraine' in charity event

March 20 (Reuters) – Away from the fighting in Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian ballet dancers rubbed shoulders in London on Saturday in a charity event that united some of the world’s leading dance performers for humanitarian relief in the war-torn eastern European nation.

About 20 dancers, with glistening bodies and graceful moves, received a thunderous applause from the packed auditorium at the London Coliseum theatre for the ‘Dance for Ukraine’ gala.

“We have so many loved ones back home. We couldn’t just sit idly at home and just watch news, we wanted to do something,” Ivan Putrov, who is from Ukraine and organised the event with Romanian Alina Cojocaru, told Reuters.

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Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, an attack Moscow calls a “special operation” to demilitarise its neighbour.

The U.N. human rights office has said at least 847 civilians had been killed and 1,399 wounded in Ukraine as of Friday. More than 3.3 million refugees have fled Ukraine through its western border, with around 2 million more displaced inside the country.

Some audience members were draped in the Ukrainian flag for the event, with dancers from many countries including Brazil, Italy and Britain providing glamour to the stage that was lit in shades of yellow and blue.

Katja Khaniukova from Ukraine and Natalia Osipova from Russia were among those who took part. There were also dancers from the United States, France, Japan and Argentina at the event, which the organisers said raised at least 140,000 pounds ($184,520.00) for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine appeal.

“So many of the artists contacted us wanting to join so it is inspiring how overwhelming the support is from the people, but we need more support in Ukraine, more support from different governments around the world,” said Putrov.

($1 = 0.7587 pounds)

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Writing by Muralikumar Anantharaman; Editing by Shri Navaratnam

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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$300k shortfall for mental health charity after fundraising events cancelled

$300k shortfall for mental health charity after fundraising events cancelled

If she’d had it her way Andrea Ruzicova would have been in Slovakia instead of running around Auckland.

It’s been three years since she last saw her parents and brother back in her country of birth but this year a lack of MIQ spots again scuttled her plans to visit them.

She says the disappointment was just another blow inflicted by a pandemic that has caused so many struggles for so many people, and decided she could do something to help.

So she strapped on her sneakers and ran a marathon, raising more than $2500.

READ MORE:
* Southland charities facing Covid-19 demand and fundraising uncertainty
* Covid-19: South Auckland mental health and addiction services see surge in demand
* Charities encouraged to speak out during lockdown

Andrea Ruzicova competed in the Auckland marathon in January to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation.

Supplied

Andrea Ruzicova competed in the Auckland marathon in January to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation.

The Covid pandemic has struck a double blow to New Zealand charities as it increases demand for their services, yet stops much-needed fundraising events from taking place.

When Ruzicova ran the Auckland Marathon in January – the morning of the red traffic light announcement – the event had already been postponed from October 2021. She’d trained during lockdowns and through her summer holidays, and completed the run in four hours and 20-something minutes.

It was a tough slog and she’d do it again, especially as it benefits the Mental Health Foundation, a charity that offers mental health education.

“I admit I do struggle sometimes – to an extent I handle it my own ways – and running has helped me a lot to get through those times.”

The marathon is the largest fundraiser of the year for the foundation and normally raises about $200,000. This year it took in about $80,000.

Its chief executive Shaun Robinson says the rolling cancellations and postponements of the country’s running-for-charity events will see the foundation miss out on about $300,000 worth of fundraising this year. It typically receives about $500,000 annually.

The Mental Health Foundation’s Shaun Robinson says the demand for mental health support has skyrocketed.

Chris Skelton/Stuff

The Mental Health Foundation’s Shaun Robinson says the demand for mental health support has skyrocketed.

While many events have pivoted to online versions – where sponsored participants run their courses – participation has dropped dramatically and the trickle-down effect is hurting the organisations that rely on the money.

Robinson says 50 per cent of the charity’s income stems from donations and the cancellation of events was affecting the organisation’s bottom line.

“Demand for mental health support is growing about 20 per cent a year and government funding sources aren’t keeping pace.”

This year’s money was to be used for work including suicide prevention, training and resources to help people support others they’re worried about, and school programmes.

“The demand is increasing at the same time resources are decreasing both because of Covid-19.”

While the recently announced Events Transition Support Payment scheme helps organisers of major events recoup some costs should Covid force cancellations, Robinson says it does nothing to help the charities that would have benefited from fundraisers – an issue that has been overlooked.

Ideally the government would top up the missing funds or offer a similar scheme for charities, but in the meantime he’s urging people to donate regardless.

“Cut out the event and just give us the money. We’d be very grateful and use it for the purposes we would have done through the event.”

The Auckland Marathon celebrated its 30th anniversary in January.

Jason Dorday/Stuff

The Auckland Marathon celebrated its 30th anniversary in January.

Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector Priyanca Radhakrishnan​ acknowledged the pandemic has made things particularly challenging for charities.

The government has provided the $36 million Community Capability and Resilience Fund to help community organisations recover from the impacts of Covid-19, and charities are also eligible for schemes like the Covid Support Payment, since fundraising counts as revenue.

“In addition, the Lottery Covid-19 Community Wellbeing Fund ($40 million) was similarly responsive to the challenges communities across Aotearoa we’re facing as a result of Covid 19. Through this funding there was support for youth mental health initiatives at a community level.”

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment spokeswoman Liz Vallieres said the events transition support payment scheme acts like an insurance scheme whereby most of the unrecoverable costs incurred by the event organiser are covered.

“But if the event does not go ahead then some suppliers and benefactors will ultimately miss out. This is the same outcome as normal insurance arrangements when events are cancelled.”

The Auckland Marathon is the Mental Health Foundation’s biggest fundraiser and normally raises about $200,000. This year it took in about $80k.

Jason Dorday/Stuff

The Auckland Marathon is the Mental Health Foundation’s biggest fundraiser and normally raises about $200,000. This year it took in about $80k.

The scheme has been extended until the end of January 2023 to encourage event organisers to continue organising large scale events, she said.

Fundraising Institute of New Zealand’s executive director Michelle Berriman​ said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic was immediate for the charity sector.

Like Robinson, she says the support payment scheme is a good start in supporting event organisers but it doesn’t help charities that rely on the money from cancelled events.

The participation events like those the Mental Health Foundation benefit from are different from annual appeal days or other fundraising events as they tend to draw in people who don’t otherwise support a charity.

“People who take part in these events do this for close personal reasons, often through personal experience, or in memory of a loved one.

“We’re reminding these amazing, kind people that the way they support charities has changed but the reason why hasn’t. “