As a youth counsellor, Nicole McRae often tells her young clients it’s important to set goals in life and try to achieve them. The recent Chief Challenge offered her a chance to put those words into action for a good cause.
McRae was one of about two dozen people who took up the challenge to hike the Stawamus Chief multiple times during the month of May and solicit pledges for the community fundraising phase of the Building Opportunities Capital Campaign, part of the effort to raise $3 million for the downtown Centrepoint project.
Estelle Taylor, communications and fundraising manager with Sea to Sky Community Services (SSCS), said the efforts of all who took up the challenge were appreciated. But McRae’s effort was particularly noteworthy: She hiked to the top of the granite monolith every day in May — 31 times in all.
Only three times did McRae walk the trail alone. Five times she took along one of her teenaged clients — illustrating her point all the louder.
“I’m constantly telling the youth that I work with that you have to set goals and work to achieve them,” she said. “I knew I could do the Chief every week, but I just set a goal of doing it every day. I knew that I’d be challenged to fit it in every day, but the goal was good motivation to keep going.”
Taylor said that by the time all the pledges are collected, the Chief Challenge will have raised between $5,000 and $10,000 for Centrepoint — the $8 million downtown community services hub that’s planned at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Victoria Street.
At least as important as the money raised, the Chief Challenge is one of the many initiatives that has helped connect the Centrepoint capital campaign to the community, and vice-versa.
Those who hiked the Chief also connected with others during the process of raising pledges and telling their friends and co-workers about the initiative.
“A lot of people pushed themselves personally a bit, so we’re pretty pleased,” Taylor said. “What’s nice about these sorts of initiatives is people are getting involved, doing what works for them — finding their interest, their passion, and connecting with the project.”
The Chief Challenge — the brainchild of SSCS staffer Catherine Rockandel — was part of the 16-week community phase of the Centrepoint fundraising effort that began on April 28. After six weeks, just over $58,000 has been raised through modest-sized donations from businesses and other community-based efforts, Taylor said. The goal is to raise $160,000 by this August.
The wide range of efforts large and small are much appreciated, she said. For example, McDonald’s franchises in Whistler and Pemberton — communities also served by SCSS programs — donated the proceeds from a Happy Meal Day. At Squamish Savings, which earlier made a large donation to the campaign, employees are doing their own fundraising, bake sales and such. And Dr. Bruce Bessie, a retired dentist, has led an effort to get health-care professionals involved.
There’s also a raffle ending July 2 for a weekend pass for two to the Squamish Valley Music Festival. Tickets cost $10 and are available at SSCS or the Squamish Farmers’ Market.
“I think we’re on track,” Taylor said
The stated goal from the outset of the larger capital campaign was to raise $3 million by the end of 2014. The total raised is currently around $1.15 million. Taylor said SSCS officials are in discussions with “mid-sized and large” potential donors.
The hope is that actual, on-the-ground work will begin on the project this fall, she said.
“When you start the work, that often releases more potential donors, because people like to get involved in projects they can see are really happening,” she said.
For more information, visit www.buildingopportunities.ca
