SLD hopes to get 300 participants in this year’s Get Involved Week

With more than 30 activities and a good cause to support, Kwantlen’s student leadership and development hopes to see an increase in participation in this year’s Get Involved – Give Back Challenge Week.

“[We had] 60 students and 20 employees [involved] last year,” Kurt Penner, coordinator of student leadership and development, said. It was the first time that there were more students than staff involved, and they raised more than $700 for Free The Children’s education campaign.

The aim for this year is not only to raise a bit more for the charity, but to also get more people involved.

“We’re trying to improve that to 300 [people] this year,” said Penner. “The primary goal is actually the community building. It’s really a secondary goal to generate some funds for charity. If we could raise $1,000, we’d be happy at this point.”

The event is an opportunity for students to show their school spirit by participating in challenges and trying a variety of activities. Each campus has its own calendar of events, including yoga, Zumba dance classes, belly dancing, ice hockey and kickboxing. There are also fun challenges like tug-of-war, Scrabble and a turban-tying contest. In addition to campus activities, there are events happening off campus, such as climbing the Grouse Grind.

There is a minimum $10 donation fee, 100 per cent of which goes to Free The Children.

According to Penner, Free The Children was chosen because the international charity supports young people in underprivileged areas.

“Free The Children organization supports educational programs and it seemed like a good step to have the charity be part of something educational,” said Penner.

According to the charity’s official site, its goal is to “free children from poverty and exploitation and free young people from the notion that they are powerless to affect positive change in the world.”

It has successfully built more than 650 school around the world.

Get Involved – Give Back Week starts Sept. 20 and ends Sept. 25. For more information, see the event website.

How the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics brought out the patriot in all of us

We definitely proved those Olympic pessimists wrong.

When Zach Parisé, son of Jean-Paul Parisé, scored the tying goal for U.S.A. with 24 seconds left in the game, the sound of racing hearts could be heard across Canada.

In a movie, Team Canada would score the winning goal in overtime to take home the gold. And that’s just what happened.

When Sidney Crosby shot the puck past Ryan Miller, the American goalkeeper, Canada Hockey Place roared as we won our 14th gold medal.

An award-winning screenwriter couldn’t have written it better.

The reaction to that goal could be heard all across Canada and even overseas. CTV showed footage of Canadians celebrating in downtown Vancouver, Whistler village, Nova Scotia, downtown Toronto, and in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Canadians in London even tweeted about Trafalgar Square being a sea of red and white and celebrating the win at a nearby pub.

The 2010 Winter Olympics had a bit of a rocky start, with many being apathetic or even opposed to the Olympics being held in Vancouver.

It was like people were waiting for us to crash and burn. But the opposite happened.

The Olympic games ended on a high as we broke a record, winning the most gold medals ever won at the Winter Games.

But we came away with more than just medals. We came away with a greater connection to our fellow Canadians and a sense of pride that we always had, but didn’t always show.

We will look back on these past two weeks as historic, defining moments in Canadian history.

But first, we have to get through the week with this Olympic hangover.

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