Sturgeon Heights Collegiate offers education in Christmas FUNdraising

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This article was published 08/12/2022 (1370 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Students at Sturgeon Heights Collegiate are putting the fun in fundraising as they face off in games against pro athletes to raise money and collect food for 47 families in need.

“We just like to do something nice at Christmas time. I know we’re not curing the problem, but we’re just helping them out,” said physical education teacher Deborah Einarson Woods, the mastermind behind the fundraiser and organizer of the games.

For the 12th year, the school is hosting its weeklong Pros VS Joes competition, where high school students — the Joes — compete in games against professional and amateur athletes — the Pros— to raise funds for Christmas hampers.

“It creates a community,” Einarson Woods said. “I get Joes continually coming back to help because they enjoyed it so much. And Pros, once they come, they’re hooked.”

A variety of games are held each week during lunch hour in the school’s gym — powerball on Monday, a dodgeball tournament and musical chair competition on Tuesday, basketball games on Wednesday, a division-wide rock-paper-scissors competition on Thursday and a lip-sync battle on Friday.

Each day, athletes from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, University of Manitoba Bisons and other professional or amateur sports teams join in on the fun. Students can pay $2 at the door to watch the games, or they can donate food for the hampers. The hampers are sent to families with kids who attend a school in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division.

But the fundraiser is much bigger than a weeklong competition. About six years ago, Einarson Woods said she added another element to the games. Leading up to Pros VS Joes, she co-ordinates a monthlong Amazing Race-style competition, in which 16 teams of students complete fundraising tasks to raise money and food for the hampers.

The school has raised about $28,000 in food and cash from that part of the competition. Einarson Woods said she’s hoping to raise an additional $2,000 to $3,000 this week.

“It just kept getting bigger. Every year I come up with something bigger and better, and it’s become this big beast of a thing,” she said.

Two teams are eliminated each week in November. The winning eight teams get to compete in Pros VS Joes.

By the time Einarson Woods sends out the hampers on Dec. 15 and 16, the entire effort will have lasted more than a month-and-a-half.

Students and staff at the school can also buy presents for the hampers.

“Everybody in the whole school is a part of making sure these hampers are big and deluxe,” Einarson Woods said.

“If you’re not in Pros VS Joes then you’re raising money, or buying presents, or baking for the families, or helping sort food that comes in, packing hampers, delivering hampers. It’s non-stop rotation of volunteers helping for this.”

Other schools in the division participate, too, she said. They have their own competitions to decide who gets to compete in the divisional rock-paper-scissors game.

“So that price tag… doesn’t even include what’s coming from the nine other schools. There’s quite a bit,” she said.

The food that’s collected gets distributed among the 47 families, and the money raised is put toward various items, including towels, pillows, cleaning products or fresh food such as turkey, all of which are included in the hampers.

“It’s a little pocket of happiness, this period of time where they need a bit of money or a little bit of support… we’re there for them, Einarson Woods said.

“Because Christmas is, it’s expensive. It’s an expensive time of year for people. And we know that.”

Jaycie Morris, a Pro, played in the dodgeball and musical chair competitions Tuesday.

“It’s just important to raise awareness that there’s people less fortunate, and we should help them out if we can. And it’s OK to do something kind of fun like this to help raise that awareness,” said Morris, captain of Team Canada’s coed dodgeball team.

The Joes had fun, too. Kiera Ashley, a Grade 12 student, won the musical chair competition on Tuesday.

“It feels good because… we’re having so much fun, but it’s also for a good cause. So, it’s just like best of both worlds,” Ashley said.

Heading into this week’s competition, Ashley said she and her partner raised about $4,000 worth of food and money.

Johnathan Paquette, another senior, raised about $2,300 with his partner.

“It’s fun going up against these pro players and, you know, sometimes you gotta hit them and show them who’s boss,” said Paquette.

The Pros VS Joes competition ends Friday.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca