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Project to help homeless, raise
awareness
LONDON, ON, March
13, 2009 –
Students at the
Richard Ivey School of Business will
camp out on campus for five days without
food, cash or a roof over their heads to
raise money for the homeless.
With only a cardboard
box for shelter and a sleeping bag and
pillow each, Daniel Sliwin, Noah
Goldstein and Dylan Haggart – all
Honours undergraduate (HBA) students at
Ivey Business School – will brave the
elements and live outside the University
Community Centre at The University of
Western Ontario March 15-20 to
experience life on the streets.
During that time
they'll survive on donated food and can
only enter campus buildings to attend
classes or write exams unless
temperatures plunge low enough to put
their health at risk. They'll also
collect donations for Street Connection,
a London-based non-profit organization
that provides a drop-in centre and meals
for homeless youth.
A fourth HBA student,
Nicole Clara, will also help with the
fundraiser but will not be camping out.
The initiative is
part of a nationwide campaign, "5 Days
for the Homeless", in which students at
universities give up most basic
amenities and live outside on campus for
120 hours to raise awareness and money
for the homeless. It was launched by
business students at the University of
Alberta in 2005 to give back to the
community and show that businesses and
business students are sensitive to
community issues.
"As students, we're
all pretty privileged and sometimes we
forget that not everyone is as
privileged as we are. This will give us
a taste of what some people go through,"
said Clara. "We want to show that we are
willing to help people in our community
and raise awareness of some of the
community work done at Ivey."
Carol Stephenson, Dean, Ivey Business
School, said the School is fully
supporting the initiative.
"We are so proud that
the students have chosen to take on this
cause and we will back their efforts 100
per cent. Homelessness is a big problem
in Canada, but it's not always highly
visible so raising awareness of this
chronic problem is critical," said
Stephenson. "At Ivey, our mission is to
develop business leaders who contribute
to the communities in which they operate
so I'm pleased to see this mission is
being taken to heart."
Photo opportunity:
Dean Stephenson will greet the students
at the University Community Centre on
Monday, March 16 at 9:30 a.m. There will
be an opportunity to take photos
promptly at 9:30 a.m. There will also be
an opportunity to speak with the
students following the photos.
Molson Canada,
through its community investment fund,
the Molson Donations Fund, is also
supporting London's campaign.
"When we were approached by the students
participating in 5 Days for the
Homeless, we immediately wanted to play
our part and help them reach their
fundraising goal," said Tonia Hammer,
Community Relations Coordinator at
Molson. "Molson's community investment
program focuses on initiatives that have
a positive impact on the needs of young
adults in local communities, encouraging
healthy lifestyles, skills development
and responsible choices."
As part of the
project, the students will write about
their experiences and post to an online
blog on the 5 Days' Web site.
To make donations,
click here:
5 Days Donations
Businesses interested
in sponsoring the London event, please
contact Daniel Sliwin,
dsliwin.hba2009@ivey.ca
For more information
on the 5 Days campaign, please visit:
http://www.5days.ca/
About the Richard Ivey School of
Business, The University of Western
Ontario
The Richard Ivey School of Business at
The University of Western Ontario (www.ivey.ca)
offers undergraduate (HBA)
and graduate degree programs (MBA,
Executive MBA and
PhD) in addition to non-degree
Executive Development programs. Ivey has
campuses in London (Ontario),
Toronto, and Hong Kong. Ivey
recently redesigned its curriculum to
focus on
Cross-Enterprise Leadership – a
holistic issues-based approach to
management education that meets the
demands of today's complex global
business world.
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For more
information, please contact:
Mary Weil, Manager, Media & Public
Relations, Richard Ivey School of
Business, 416-203-0664,
mweil@ivey.ca
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