CREDIT: MELISSA NOVACASKA
Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) President Carlie Forsythe and VP of Internal Affairs, Kevin Kaisar presented a $1,700 cheque to Brian Elliot Habitat for Humanity, Heartland Ontario's chief executive officer and Heather Rivet, the organization's fundraising and engagement co-ordinator on Dec. 15.

The Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) presented Habitat for Humanity, Heartland Ont. with a $1,700 cheque on Dec. 15.

Though Fanshawe College has previously partnered with the organization through the college's trades programs and marketing department, this is the first time the FSU has been involved.

According to Kevin Kaisar, VP of Internal Affairs, who spearheaded the event, fundraising for the charity came through a variety of means throughout the fall semester, including a prize draw during frosh events, a pizza sale collaboration with Domino's during move-in weekend, $1 paper houses sold at Oasis and donation boxes spread across campus.

“I'm really excited because it is the first large scale fundraising campaign that I've organized myself personally, so it's really awesome to see everything come to a close and we're able to give the organization the money we have fundraised for them,” Kaisar said.

According to Kaisar, one of the bigger decision factors the executive team considered in choosing a charity to support was that it had to be local, and the funds would go directly to the cause, instead of paying for administrative costs as well.

“Through my research, I found out that Habitat for Humanity had 100 per cent of its administrative costs covered through other programs, so 100 per cent of the money that we raised was going directly to the cause and that was really cool, so that made Habitat for Humanity stand out for us,” Kaisar said.

Another initiative that will help spread awareness of Habitat for Humanity for a longer period of time is the creation of a Habitat for Humanity club on campus, which Kaisar also helped organize.

“[It's a] non-financial contribution to the campaign, so it's more for long lasting impact and I saw the potential to create that club and I think that really made this campaign even more fun for me,” Kaisar said.

Overall, fundraising was also a way for Kaisar to help the community he has called home for over three years.

“It's important to me because moving here to London, it felt like home for me, it is home for me now and it feels really nice to be able to give back to the community that has been so great to me and I feel like I'm more of a Londoner now.”

FSU President Carlie Forsythe, helped Kaiser decide upon a shortlist of charities including Habitat for Humanity, before bringing it to the executive council to vote on it.

“Kevin and I are really picky when it comes to a lot of charities,” Forsythe said. “We like really responsible charities, so we do a lot of research beforehand, we do charity grades, we look at every little aspect of the charity grade, and then we find charities that we feel would benefit the charities the most, as well as the students who also support it.”

According to Forsythe, the idea of the campaign was all about awareness first, but that the money raised was fantastic.

“It's a super important cause to support mostly because you can see the impacts locally, houses are being built for the people,” Forsythe said. “Also the impact on Fanshawe community itself. A lot of Fanshawe students are actually out on these builds, so they're actually getting a lot of real world experience which is really cool. It's offering housing, which is basic necessity and you get a lot of Fanshawe students involved and we like to be involved in that kind of stuff.”

Heather Rivet, Habitat for Humanity's Heartland Ontario's fundraising and engagement co-ordinator said this is an opportunity to continue to expand the relationship and get more students involved as well.

“A lot of people are familiar with Habitat for Humanity as a brand but they don't know what we're doing and what specifically we're doing here in London and that we are building homes in London for families here in town so it's important to get that message out,” Rivet said. “It's cold outside and we're a housing organization, so it's an important message year round, but particularity this time of year.”

Brian Elliot, chief executive officer for Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ont., said that while the charity has partnership with the college before, getting the chance to do so with the FSU is fantastic.

“This is awesome, anytime we get a chance to partner with Fanshawe, we're extremely happy,” Elliot said. “The FSU president is very proactive and involved in the community and [the FSU] saw a need that they thought fit their pillars and then they contact us to let us know that we would be their charity of choice for this funding and we're extremely happy to be part of that.”

According to Elliot, the funds will be going towards the charity's mortgage fund, which will help families with affordable housing.

“In London and across Canada, affordable housing is a real challenge for a lot of people and so we're committed that everyone deserves a decent place to live and everyone deserves a chance at having a home for raising families,” Elliott said. “We know the impact that has across our community is fantastic, so being able to raise funds like this really helps our community get better together and so with this we'll be able to give that hand up, not a hand out.”

Brian Elliot (left) Habitat for Humanity, Heartland Ontario's chief executive office and Fanshawe Student Union President, Carlie Forsythe hold the $1,700 cheque the FSU raised for the organization. CREDIT: MELISSA NOVACASKA

Fanshawe Student Union VP Internal Kevin Kaisar (left) and President, Carlie Forsythe hold the $1,700 cheque.