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Bear hugs for kids  

Engineering students donate $20 000 to Children’s Hospital

By Anna Sarkissian

The cafeteria at the Montreal Children’s Hospital was humming with activity on April 30 as eight members of the Engineering and Computer Science Association accepted pledges during their sponsored miracle hour at Astral Media’s Caring for Kids Radiothon.

After reaching their goal of 231 callers, ECA matched the $10 000 that its charitable wing, ECAid, had raised at various events since 2007. The funds will be donated towards the purchase of a machine to detect asthma in children.

“Engineers sometimes get a bad rap,” said ECAid founder James Goggans. “For once, I wanted us to be doing good and motivating the rest of the community to contribute as well.”

Between calls, the volunteers snacked on ice cream sandwiches and mini cupcakes. “It’s pretty exciting when the phone rings,” said ECA’s VP Finance, Athena Fotiou, who had the honour of signing the big cheque for the Children’s.

Reading from a script, the students greet callers and invite them to join the Circle of Hugs, which involves a monthly contribution of $18. Incoming ECA president Marc Lindstrom recounted how one of his colleagues upgraded a particularly generous caller: “He said, ‘that’s not a hug, that’s a bear hug!’”

The event was part of a fundraising campaign in 28 cities across the country and raised over $7 million. It was broadcast in Montreal on Virgin Radio 96, CHOM 97.7 and CJAD 800.