Event management students partner with three new charities

Algonquin College’s event management program aims to raise money for three local charities with their event, A Night in New York, which will be held on March 25.

Following an 11-year partnership with the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada, the event management program has now opted to support three other local charities instead. The charities are the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre, Ottawa Riverkeeper and Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Program.

Over the lifetime of the partnership, the event management program raised over $1 million for the Children’s Wish Foundation.

“The Children’s Wish foundation is a wonderful charity and we had been with them for many years,” said Sylvia Densmore, event management coordinator and professor. “We wanted to share the wealth with other organizations within the community.”

The Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Program expressed excitement for the opportunity to work with Algonquin and hopes to raise awareness about what they do.

“People often don’t think about childhood cancer until it affects someone they know,” said Jason Campbell, community development coordinator for Candlelighters. “We’re very grateful to Algonquin for the support and helping us to get our name out there.”

The event, A Night in New York, promises the excitement of “The Big Apple” without leaving Ottawa. It will be held at the Sala San Marco Event & Conference Centre in Little Italy. Guests will enjoy Broadway hits, a stand-up comedian, busker acts and an Italian meal. Tickets cost $49.50.

While the event is organized by students, Densmore emphasizes that it will have a professional atmosphere.

“These events are very professionally done. We get feedback that people are impressed with the quality every year,” said Densmore. “They’re worth the money.”

As the students prepare for the final weeks before the event, the team members believes their extensive planning will lead to a successful night.

“Six months worth of planning has gone into this event,” said Genevieve Akins, a member of the event planning marketing team. “There has been an extreme amount of dedicated work and our team has done amazing.”