Led by 36 Queen's University students, Cure Cancer Classic (CCC) is a non-profit organization committed to fighting cancer through various fundraising events, including a golf tournament, intra- and inter-school hockey tournaments. Over the past 18 years, CCC has raised over $1.6-million for the Canadian Cancer Society.Supplied
The organizers: Owen Stock, Justin Tanenbaum, Trevor Longo and 33 other Queen’s University students
The pitch: Raising $600,000
The cause: The Canadian Cancer Society
Back in 2005, a class of Queen’s University commerce students was given an assignment to come up with an initiative that would benefit the local community.
Jared March pitched the idea of a hockey game between business students from Queen’s and Western University with the proceeds going toward cancer research.
That led to the creation of the Cure Cancer Classic, or CCC, which has grown into a student-run annual event that includes four fundraising tournaments – a golf event in the fall, the Queen’s-Western match, an intra-faculty hockey competition and a game pitting teams made up of Queen’s commerce and engineering students.
The commerce-engineering game takes place on March 14 at the 5,000-seat Slush Puppie Place, home of the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League. Organizers are hoping to raise $600,000, which will fund cancer research at the university’s oncology department.
“It’s really a great experience where we get to unite everyone for a shared mission of finding a cure,” said Justin Tanenbaum, 22, a fourth-year commerce student who is co-chair of CCC. “There are 36 members on the executive team and every single person has a story of cancer.”
The commerce-engineering game usually opens with a cancer survivor dropping the puck but this year two students – one from commerce and one studying engineering – who lost their mothers to cancer will take the opening face-off.
Owen Stock, a 22-year old economics student, said he got involved in CCC after participating in the golf tournament. “I thought this was a community and a team that I really wanted to be a part of,” he said.
Trevor Longo, a third-year commerce student, lost an uncle to cancer and became involved with CCC after attending the commerce-engineering game during his first year. “I thought just the atmosphere, everything about the game was everything I wanted to be a part of,” said Mr. Longo, 23, who played in last year’s game. “I’m lucky to be in this club. And I think what we do is pretty special.”